LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



jfc 3. liqajrigljt !fov. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



/ 




GENERAL HERKIMER AT ORISKANY 



THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 



AND OTHER 



STORIES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 



RELATING MANY 

DARING DEEDS OF THE 
OLD HEROES 

REVISED AND ADAPTED FROM 

HENRY C. WATSON 

AUTHOR OF " NOBLE DEEDS OF OUR FATHERS AS TOLD BY OLD SOLDIERS OF THE 
REVOLUTION GATHERED AROUND THE OLD BELL OF INDEPENDENCE " 

ILLUSTRATED 

BOSTON 1888 
LEE AND SHEPARD Publishers 

IO MILK STREET NEXT " THE OLD SOUTH MEETING HOUSE " 

CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 

NEW YORK 718 AND 720 BROADWAY 



Copyright, 1888, by Lee and Shepard. 



All rights res e wed. 



The Boston Tea Party. 



-■o 



,-- 



PREFACE 



In explanation of the plan of this work, it may be 
stated that such an occasion as that upon which the 
veterans met was especially adapted to awaken recol- 
lections of the struggle for Independence. A Fourth- 
of-July festival in the old rendezvous of the Boston 
Tea-Party is surely well calculated to excite patriotic 
feeling ; and when to those who participated in the 
festival are added a number of the veterans of the War 
of Independence, filled with glorious recollections, the 
effect is to turn the mind to the admiration and venera- 
tion of the men and deeds of the " trying time." 

No event excites more interest among Americans 
than the destruction of the tea in Boston Harbor. 
Then and there the unconquerable resolution of 
freemen was first made apparent to the obstinate 
oppressors of our infant country. Yet, until of late 



4 PREFACE 

years, the history of the affair was very imperfectly 
known, and the names of men who participated in 
it are scarcely mentioned. In these pages will be 
found a faithful account of this daring exploit ; and, 
in connection with the other narratives, it is hoped 
it will kindle in the breasts of young readers an 
enthusiasm for liberty. The anecdotes of personal 
daring, the descriptions of men and of places, the 
fragments of history and the accounts of campaigns 
which follow the story of the "Tea-Party," cannot fail 
to interest and instruct youthful readers, and must 
awaken a desire to learn more of the events which 
shaped the growth of our nation. As an auxiliary to 
the study of United States History, such reading is 
always entertaining and profitable. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Fourth of July 7 

The Lebanon Liberty Club 12 

The Skirmish at Lexington 22 

The Fight at Concord 29 

The Fifer's Story . . . .44 

Arnold's Expedition , 47 

The Expedition against Ticonderoga 68 

Gen. Putnam's Escape , 76 

The Battle of Bennington ....... 82 

The Capture of Gen. Sullivan 98 

The Patriotism of Mrs. Borden ...... 108 

The Escape of Capt. Plunkett . . . . . . . no 

The Treason of Rugsdale .114 

Cruelty of Tarleton . ... 126 

Lee's Legion 135 

The Attack on Gen. Wayne 152 

The Mutiny at Morristown - . 1 55 

The Treason of Bettys 167 

The Battle of Bunker Hill . . . . . . .174 

Exploits of Peter Francisco 183 

The Exploit of Col. Allan M'Lean 187 

The Adventure of Major Lee ...... 192 

Gen. Daniel Morgan 205 

The Battle of Oriskany . 210 

Conclusion 219 

5 



THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 



FOURTH OF JULY 

Those who have been associated in the performance 
of any deed of valor or patriotism, ever feel attracted 
to each other by an influence stronger and nobler than 
that of friendship. 

The daring patriots who joined in resistance to the 
tyrannizing might of Britain were men pledged to die 
rather than betray each other, and to maintain their 
rights while they could lift the sword or aim the mus- 
ket ; and that pledge made them look upon each other 
in after-years, when the storm of war was hushed, and 
security dwelt at the fireside, as brothers whom no 
petty cause could sunder, nor ill report make foes. 

These remarks apply, especially, to those who first 
threw themselves into the breach, and resolved that, if 
the British ministry should adopt such measures as the 
Stamp Act, their execution should be resisted and be- 

7 



8 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

come difficult ; and if such measures were passed as the 
Act taxing tea, coffee, and the comforts of life, that the 
tea should never be landed, and thus prove a loss to its 
owners. 

The men who threw the tea into Boston Harbor were 
patriots united by a sense that union was necessary for 
the salvation of liberty ; and they were attracted to 
each other by the same influence during the bloody 
struggle which succeeded. 

What wonder, then, that they loved to meet in after- 
years, to wish each other health and happiness, and 
chat over the stirring events in which they had partici- 
pated, and to which their first bold deed was as the 
spark to dry hay, kindling to a fierce blaze the ready 
seeds of war ? 

It was the Fourth of July in Boston. Throughout 
the city which cradled the Revolution, the anniversary 
of the birth of the free and happy United States of 
America was celebrated with rejoicings unknown to 
the shackled people of monarchical countries. 

Meetings were held in various parts of the city, 
patriotic speeches made, bells rung, cannons fired, 
pistols, crackers, and fireworks of all descriptions dis- 
charged, toasts drank, and festivities of all kinds 
indulged in. 



FOURTH OF JULY 9 

The soldiers paraded the streets with fine bands dis- 
coursing most excellent music, and followed by a large 
.crowd. Bunker Hill was the scene of a large patriotic 
meeting, and the events of the " trying time" were 
again and again recounted with much enthusiasm. 

But a more unusual and far more interesting meeting 
occurred in Boston, about a quarter of a mile from the 
wharf known ever since the commencement of the 
Revolution as Griffin's Wharf. In the upper room of 
an old and somewhat dilapidated tavern were assembled 
a party of old and young men, — the representatives of 
two generations. 

Three of the old men were the remaining members 
of the famous Lebanon Club, — the first liberty club 
formed in the Colonies, and the one which designed 
and executed the project of destroying the tea at 
Boston. 

They had come from various parts of the country, 
upon agreement, to meet once more in the house where 
the disguised members of the club had met on the 
evening of the 16th of December, 1773. 

The names of the old patriots were David Kinnison, 
Adam Colson, and Lendall Pitts. Five other veterans 
had joined the party by invitation, together with half a 
dozen young men, who had arranged the meeting and 



IO THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

agreed to pay all expenses, with a view of passing the 
Fourth of July in a novel and interesting manner. 

A well-laden table extended the whole length of the 
room, and flags, banners, and appropriate emblems and 
devices were hung on the walls. There was no formal 
organization, as at public festivals, no president elected, 
and no list of toasts prepared. It was intended to be 
a sociable gathering. 

No band of well-arranged and harmonized instruments 
appeared ; but old Jacob Brown and old Samuel Hanson, 
a fifer -and a drummer of the Continental army, occa- 
sionally stirred the hearts and fired the eyes of the 
company with the music which had nerved the patriots 
at Bunker Hill and Bennington. 

Each of the veterans sat in an arm-chair at the table, 
the young men being distributed among them so as to 
wait upon them occasionally, and show them every 
attention. 

Mr. Kinnison, though not the oldest man of the com- 
pany, looked as if he had seen the hardest service, and 
received the hardest buffets of Time. His features 
bespoke a strong and energetic mind, and his eye 
was full of fire and activity. His hair was gray and 
bushy, partly covering a large scar on his high fore- 
head. He had evidently been a man of powerful 



FOURTH OF JULY II 

frame, but was now bent with the weight of years and 
service. 

The other veterans appeared to be generally of the 
same age, and to have seen hard toil and service. The 
fifer was the most remarkable of the party. In spite of 
his age and white hair, his puffed cheeks and the sly 
twinkle of his eyes gave him a kind of jolly, frolicsome 
appearance, which would indicate that age could not 
chill the humor of his heart. 



THE LEBANON LIBERTY CLUB 

When the company were fairly seated at the table, 
Mr. Kinnison opened the conversation by asking the 
young men if they had ever heard any account of the 
Lebanon Liberty Club. They replied they had heard 
of the club, but never any definite account. 

"Well," said Mr. Kinnison, "I can tell you some- 
thing about it. Mr. Pitts, Mr. Colson, and myself, were 
members of a club consisting of seventeen men, living 
at Lebanon, in Maine. 

" Most of us were farmers. We knew what the folks 
over the river were aiming at, and we knew that there 
was no use of dallying about matters. Our rights were 
to be untouched, or there must be a fight ! 

" So, you see, we Lebanon men resolved to form a 
club, to consider what was to be done, and to do accord- 
ingly. We hired a room in the tavern of Col. Gooding, 
and held regular meetings at night. The colonel was 
an American of the right color, but we kept our object 
secret, not even letting him into it." 



THE LEBANON LIBERTY CLUB 13 

" If it isn't too much trouble, Mr. Kinnison, we 
should like you to tell us all about what the club had 
to do with the tea-party, and how that affair was con- 
ducted," said one of the young men, named Hand, 
filling the veteran's plate. 

"He can tell you much better than any one else," 
remarked Mr. Pitts. " I can vouch for the bold part he 
took in it, and he has a better memory than the rest of 
us." 

"No flattery, Pitts," returned Mr. Kinnison. "My 
memory is bad enough ; and as for taking such a bold 
part in that tea-party, it is all nonsense. If there was 
a leader, you were the man. But I'll tell these young 
men all I know of the affair, and what the Lebanon 
Club had to do with it. 

"Well, the seventeen men of our club determined, 
whether we were aided or not, to destroy the tea which 
the East India Company had sent to Boston. The plan 
was soon formed, as it always is when men are deter- 
mined to do a thing. 

" We wanted no captain ; each man could command 
for himself. We resolved to disguise ourselves in 
Mohawk dresses, and carry such arms as would enable 
us to sell our lives pretty dearly ; we also pledged our- 
selves never to reveal the names of any of the party 



14 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

while there was danger in it. We expected to have a 
fight anyhow, and the first man who faltered was to be 
thrown overboard with the tea. 

" We came to Boston, and found the people ripe for 
the deed. A great meeting was to be. held at the Old 
South Meeting-House, and we concluded to wait and 
see what would be done there. 

" We lodged at this tavern, and held our councils up 
in this room. Well, there was a tremendous meeting 
at the Old South, and most of us were there to help to 
keep up the excitement, and to push our plan if a 
chance appeared. 

" Young Ouincy made a speech that stirred the 
people, and made them ready for any thing which 
would show their spirit. The people voted with one 
voice that the tea should not be landed. 

"We saw how things were going, came back to the 
tavern, put on our Mohawk dresses, and returned to 
the meeting. Pitts succeeded in getting into the 
church just about dusk, and raising the war-whoop. 
We answered outside. Then Pitts cried out, ' Boston 
Harbor a tea-pot to-night ! ' " 

"Ay," exclaimed Pitts, brandishing his knife above 
his head, "and ' Hurrah for Griffin's Wharf ! ' " 

"The crowd echoed 'Griffin's Wharf,'" continued 




THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 



THE LEBANON LIBERTY CLUB IS 

Kinnison, " and hurried towards that place. Our men 
joined together, returned to the tavern, got our mus- 
kets and tomahawks, and collected about seventy men, 
armed with axes and hatchets. Then we pushed for 
the wharf where the East Indiamen, loaded with the 
tea, were lying. Let me see ! — The ships were called 
the ' Dartmouth,' the" — 

"The 'Eleanor,' and the 'Beaver,'" prompted Colson. 

"Ay, the 'Dartmouth,' the 'Eleanor,' and the 
'Beaver,'" continued Kinnison. "You see, my mem- 
ory is weak. Well, when we reached the wharf, there 
was a crowd of people near it. It was a clear moon- 
light night, and the British squadron was not more than 
a quarter of a mile distant ; so, you see, there was a 
little risk. 

"We didn't halt long. Pitts led the way on board 
the 'Dartmouth,' and we followed, musket and toma- 
hawk in hand. Nobody offered any show of defend- 
ing the tea. We cut open the hatches, and some of 
the men went down and passed up the chests, while 
others cut them open, and emptied the stuff into the 
water. 

"The crew of the vessel were afraid to stir in stop- 
ping us, for we told them we would shoot the first man 
who interfered. I tell you, there was quick work there. 



16 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

When we had cleared that ship of the tea, we hurried 
off to the others, Pitts still leading the way, and did 
the same kind of work for them. 

"The people began to crowd on the wharf, and some 
of them came to help us. I guess there were about a 
hundred and fifty of us on the third ship, all hard at 
work passing up the chests, cutting them open, and 
spilling the tea. 

" Within two hours, about three hundred and fifty 
chests of the tea were thus destroyed. The crowd 
cheered us once in a while, and we knew we would have 
friends enough if the redcoats attempted to attack us. 
When we had emptied the last chest that could be 
found, we gave three of the loudest cheers, and gained 
the wharf. 

" A drummer and fifer were ready (as Mr. Brown and 
Mr. Hanson can inform you), and we formed a proces- 
sion and marched up to this tavern. Here the crowd 
gave our band of Mohawks cheer after cheer, and then 
dispersed. 

"But we didn't intend to end the night's work so 
quietly. We had a supper prepared just where we are 
now eating, and Josiah Ouincy and some other big 
men came to join us. We made a night of it, I tell 
you." 



THE LEBANON LIBERTY CLUB 17 

"Mr. Kinnison," said Mr. Colson, " there's one inci- 
dent concerning that tea-party that has slipped your 
memory. As our procession moved from the wharf 
and passed the house of the Tory Coffin, Admiral Mon- 
tague raised the window, and said, ' Ah, boys ! you have 
had a fine evening for your Indian caper; but mind, 
you've got to pay the fiddler yet ! ' 

" Pitts here shouted, ' Oh, never mind, never mind, 
squire ! Just come out, if you please, and we'll settle 
that bill in two minutes.' The people shouted, and the 
admiral thought he had better put in his head in a 
hurry." 

" That's true," remarked Kinnison. " Well, you see, 
my memory is poor. Pitts would have mentioned it 
but for his modesty." 

"I recollect it well," said Pitts. "If that Tory 
Coffin had shown his face that night, I wouldn't have 
given three cents for his life." 

" I think I would have had a slash at him," observed 
Kinnison. " I felt as savage as a Mohawk on a war- 
path." 

" I don't want to interrupt your eating, Brown and 
Hanson," said Colson ; "but couldn't you stir us up a 
little with the drum and fife ? " 

"Ay," added young Hand, who seemed to be the 



18 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

general mouthpiece of the younger portion of the com- 
pany, " give us the air you played when you marched 
up from Griffin's Wharf." 

"No objection, " replied Hanson. "Come, Brown, 
get out your whistle. There's a little music left in it 
yet, I know." 

The old fife was soon produced, and the drum also ; 
and, moving their chairs a short distance from the 
table, the veteran musicians struck up the stirring air 
of the old Massachusetts Song of Liberty, once so 
popular throughout the Colonies, and supposed to have 
been written by the wife of Gen. Warren. 

" Hurrah ! " exclaimed Hand, when the musicians had 
concluded. "Three cheers for the music and the 
musicians ! " and three cheers were given quite lustily 
by the young men, and some of the old ones. 

"I have a copy of that Song of Liberty," said 
Hand. " Here it is, with the music. I'll sing it, and 
you must all join in the chorus." 

"Good!" said Kinnison, and the others echoed him. 
Hand then sang the following words, the young men 
joining in the chorus, and occasionally some of the 
veterans attempting to do likewise. 



THE LEBANON LIBERTY CLUB 19 

u Come swallow your bumpers, ye Tories, and roar 
That the Sons of fair Freedom are hampered once more ; 
But know that no cut-throats our spirits can tame, 
Nor a host of oppressors shall smother the flame. 

In freedom we're born, and, like sons of the brave, 
Will never surrender, 
But swear to defend her, 
And scorn to survive, if unable to save. 

" Our grandsires, bless'd heroes, we'll give them a tear, 
Nor sully their honors by stooping to fear ; 
Through deaths and through dangers their trophies they won, 
We dare be their rivals, nor will be outdone. 
In freedom we're born, etc. 

" Let tyrants and minions presume to despise, 
Encroach on our rights, and make freedom their prize ; 
The fruits of their rapine they never shall keep, 
Though vengeance may nod, yet how short is her sleep ! 
In freedom we're born, etc. 

" The tree which proud Haman for Mordecai reared 
Stands recorded, that virtue endangered is spared ; 
That rogues, whom no bounds and no laws can restrain, 
Must be stripped of their honors, and humbled again. 
In freedom we're born, etc. 

" Our wives and our babes, still protected, shall know, 
Those who dare to be free shall forever be so ; 



20 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

On these arms and these hearts they may safely rely, 
For in freedom we'll live, or like heroes we'll die. 
In freedom we're born, etc. 

"Ye insolent tyrants, who wish to enthrall; 
Ye minions, ye placemen, ye pensioners, all; 
How short is your triumph, how feeble your trust ! 
Your honor must wither and nod to the dust. 
In freedom we're born, etc. 

" When oppressed and approached, our king we implore, 
Still firmly persuaded our rights he'll restore ; 
When our hearts beat to arms to defend a just right, 
Our monarch rules there, and forbids us to fight. 
In freedom we're born, etc. 

" Not the glitter of arms, nor the dread of a fray. 
Could make us submit to their claims for a day ; 
Withheld by affection, on Britons we call, 
Prevent the fierce conflict which threatens your fall. 
In freedom we're born. etc. 



" All ages shall speak with amaze and applause 
Of the prudence we show in support of our cause; 
Assured of our safety, a Brunswick still reigns, 
Whose free loyal subjects are strangers to chains. 
In freedom we're born, etc. 



THE LEBANON LIBERTY CLUB 21 

" Then join hand in hand, brave Americans all, 
To be free is to live, to be slaves is to fall ; 
Has the land such a dastard as scorns not a lord, 
Who dreads not a fetter much more than a sword ? 

In freedom we're born, and, like sons of the brave, 
Will never surrender, 
But swear to defend her, 
And scorn to survive, if unable to save/' 

The song was much applauded for its spirit, and 
some of the young men wanted to give three more 
cheers ; but Hand said they were already making too 
much noise, so they checked their enthusiasm. 



THE SKIRMISH AT LEXINGTON 

"Now," observed Hand, "I should like to hear some 
account of how things went on during the war. We 
are all in the right mood for it." 

"I could talk enough to fill whole books about the 
war," replied Kinnison ; "but I want to hear Mr. Pitts 
and Mr. Colson, and the rest of the old men, spend a 
little breath for our amusement." 

" Mr. Kinnison was in the fight at Lexington, and 
all the principal battles in the Northern States during 
the war. I think he could interest you more than I," 
said Colson. 

" I'll make an agreement with you," responded Kin- 
nison. " If I tell you all I know of that skirmish at 
Lexington, one of you must follow me." The agree- 
ment was settled, and Kinnison commenced his narra- 
tive of how the first blow of the Revolution was 
given. 

" You see, after that tea scrape, and the quarrels with 
the redcoat troops in Boston, the people of Massachu- 



THE SKIRMISH AT LEXINGTON 2$ 

setts, and, in fact, of nearly all New England, began 
to see that there was no way of upholding their rights 
but by war, and they accordingly began to arm and 
practise military tactics. 

" The fife and drum were to be heard every day all 
around the country. In our village we collected a 
company of about thirty men. My father and two 
brothers, Samuel and James, and myself joined the 
company ; and we used to parade and drill every day. 
A bold and knowing fellow, named Jonathan Williams, 
was our captain. 

"Well, early in the fall of 1774, we heard the news 
that Gage had fortified Charlestown Neck, and sent 
some troops to seize the gunpowder at Cambridge. 
This roused our mettle, and we set into drilling and 
learning manoeuvres with more zeal. 

"At one time a rumor reached us that the British 
fleet had bombarded Boston ; and, I tell you, the men 
did turn out. Some of them wanted to march right 
down to Boston. Everywhere the people were crying, 
' To arms ! to arms ! ' and we thought the war had com- 
menced, sure enough ; but it didn't just then. 

" However, there were about thirty thousand men 
on the march to Boston,*and they wouldn't turn back 
until they found the report was a hoax. Soon after, 



24 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

the Provincial Congress met, and they ordered that a 
large body of minute-men should be enrolled, so as to 
be prepared for any attack. 

"The people of our province took the matter into 
their own hands, and organized a body of minute-men 
without orders. Our company was included. We were 
all ready for fight, but were determined that the red- 
coats should strike the first blow ; so we waited 
through the winter. 

" In March Gage saw that great quantities of powder 
and balls were taken out of Boston into the countrv, 
in spite of his guard on the Neck. Every market- 
wagon, and every kind of baggage, was stowed with 
ammunition. 

" He then sent a party of troops to Salem to seize 
some cannon and stores our men had placed there ; but 
Col. Pickering, with a few men, made such a show, that 
the redcoats marched back again, without accomplishing 
their object. 

"Our chief deposit of stores was at Concord, up here 
about twenty miles from Boston ; and when our militia 
general found that Gage was sending out parties to 
sketch the roads, with the aim of getting our stores 
into his hands, he sent word to our company to be on 
hand, and, if we could, to come up near Concord. 



THE SKIRMISH AT LEXINGTON 25 

"John Hancock, Samuel Adams, and all of our other 
big men, left Boston, and went to Lexington, to keep 
the people moving and ready for an attack." 

" Dr. Joseph Warren staid in Boston," interrupted 
Pitts, " to keep the others informed of the movements 
of the redcoats." 

" Yes," continued Kinnison ; "the royals, as Deacon 
Slocum used to call 'em, didn't hate Warren so much 
as they did John Hancock and the Adamses. Well, 
when Capt. Williams heard what Gen. Gage was after, 
he told us we had better be prepared to march at a 
minute's warning. 

" Gage sent eight hundred troops, under Col. Smith 
and Major Pit cairn, on his rascally errand. They 
started from Boston about nine o'clock on the night of 
the 1 8th of April, never thinking that our men knew 
any thing about it ; but we were awake." 

"Wait a bit," said John Warner, one of the veterans 
who had not yet spoken. " I'll tell you something. I 
was in Boston when the redcoats started, and knew that 
the country militia were ready to protect the stores. 

"I was standing on the Common, talking to a few of 
my friends of my own politics, when I said rather loud, 
'The British troops will miss their aim.' — 'What aim ? ' 
inquired a person behind me. ' The cannon at Con- 



26 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

cord,' replied I as I turned to see who asked the 
question. 

"The man was dressed in British uniform, and he 
walked away as I turned to look at him. One of my 
friends whispered to me that it was Lord Percy. Soon 
after, guards were set at every avenue, and nobody was 
allowed to leave the city." 

" I suppose Lord Percy went to Gage, and told him 
what he had heard," remarked Kinnison. "It must 
have galled him a little to find they were so closely 
watched. 

" Well, Capt. Williams was first aroused by the 
sound of the bells ringing and cannons firing on the 
Lexington road, and he ordered us out to march and 
join our friends near that place. It was a moonlight 
night, and we marched rapidly. When we got about 
half way to Lexington, we met a man who told us that 
the minute-men of Lexington were out, but he didn't 
think there would be much of a fight. 

" Capt. Williams then thought it would be better for 
the company to march to Concord, and help defend the 
stores, but said that a few of us might go to Lexington 
and see how things went on. Accordingly, my brother 
Sam, — a ripe fellow Sam was, — and three others, and 
myself, were allowed to go to Lexington. 



THE SKIRMISH AT LEXINGTON 27 

" We arrived there about half-past three in the 
morning, and found the bells ringing, cannons firing, 
and about a hundred minute-men drawn up in front of 
the meeting-house, waiting the approach of the enemy. 
We joined them, and placed ourselves under the orders 
of Capt. Parker. 

" Between four and five o'clock, we caught sight of 
the redcoats coming along the road, with Pitcairn at 
their head. I saw at once that we couldn't make much 
show against so many regulars, and I believe all our 
men thought the same ; but we stood firm, with our 
loaded muskets in our hands. 

" The red-coated troops were drawn up near the 
meeting-house, just opposite to us, and loaded their 
muskets. For a little while, it seemed as if neither 
party wanted to begin, and that we both knew a long 
war hung on the first fire. 

"At last, Major Pitcairn and his officers rode for- 
ward, waving their swords, and shouting, ' Disperse, 
you villains — you rebels ! Why don't you disperse ? ' 

" As we didn't stir, Pitcairn turned, and ordered his 
troops to press forward and surround us. Just then a 
few scattering shots were fired at us, and we Lebanon 
men returned them at once. Then Pitcairn fired his 
pistol, and gave the word ' Fire ! ' and they did fire. 



28 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

Four of our men fell dead, and, besides some others, 
our Sam was wounded. 

" We had to retreat, although I felt savage enough to 
fight them all myself ; and so I fired my musket, and 
took hold of Sam, and helped him to get away with us. 
The redcoats continued to fire at us as we retreated, 
and some of our men paid them in the same coin. 

" Two or three of the men were killed as they were 
getting over a stone fence ; and Capt. Parker, who 
wouldn't run, was killed with the bayonet. I hurried 
Sam into a house near by, saw him safe in the cellar, 
where the owner of the house said he would attend to 
him ; and then joined the other Lebanon men, who 
were running towards Concord." 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 

" You must tell us what took place at Concord, also," 
said young Hand. 

"Certainly," replied Kinnison. "Now that I've 
got into the thing, I wouldn't mind telling you the 
whole war ; but Concord will do for the present. 

"Well, after a hard run, we reached Concord, and 
found the minute-men collecting from all quarters, 
and under the command of Col. James Barrett. The 
women and children were hard at work removing the 
stores to a wood a considerable distance off. 

"We joined Capt. Williams, and told him there had 
been a skirmish at Lexington, and that Sam was 
wounded. Col. Barrett collected all the minute-men 
about the place, and drew them up in two battalions, 
on the hill in the centre of Concord. 

" We had hardly formed, when we saw the redcoats 
coming up only about a quarter of a mile off. Our 
officers held a short council. Some were for making a 
bold stand where we were ; but the greater number 
said it would be best to retreat till we were re-enforced. 

29 



30 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

u Accordingly the back-out advice was adopted ; and 
we retreated over the North Bridge, about a mile 
from the common. I saw the royals come up and 
enter Concord in two divisions. Soon after, some of 
their companies took possession of the bridges, while 
the others hunted the stores. 

" About sixty barrels of flour were broken open, a 
large quantity of cannon-balls thrown into the wells, 
the liberty-pole cut down, and the court-house set 
on fire. But the greater part of the stores were 
saved. 

" In the mean time, the minute-men had come in from 
Acton, Carlisle, Weston, Littleton, and all around ; 
and our force swelled to about four hundred men. 

"I tell you, when the men saw the houses in Concord 
burning, they got a ' leetle * excited — they did. 
Adjutant Hosmer made a speech to them, and they 
wanted to go right down and attack the redcoats at 
the North Bridge. Our company was very anxious to 
go, and it was settled that the attack should be made. 
Major John Buttrick took command, and ordered us to 
follow. 

" There were about three hundred of us, the Acton 
company, under Capt. Isaac Davis taking the lead. 
We marched in double file, with trailed arms. I felt 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 3 1 

anxious to have a good fire at the rascals. They were 
on the west side of the river ; but when they saw us 
coming, they crossed over, and commenced pulling up 
the planks of the bridge. 

"Major Buttrick called out to them to quit, and told 
us to hurry on to save the bridge. The redcoats 
formed for action, and, when we were near the bridge, 
fired a few shots at us. Capt. Davis and Adjutant 
Hosmer were killed, and one Acton man wounded. 
Davis and Hosmer were both brave men, and they 
died like heroes. 

"Seeing these men fall, Major Buttrick called out, 
'Fire, men, fire!' and we did pour a volley into the 
redcoats. I brought down one man, and he never 
got up again. We were getting ready to give them 
another, when the cowards retreated. We found three 
of the enemy had been killed, and the Acton company 
took several of the wounded prisoners. 

" I saw a young man, with an axe in his hand, run 
up to a British soldier who wasn't quite dead, and kill 
him with one blow. That I didn't like, though his 
spirit and courage pleased me." 

" It was butchery," said Pitts. 

"So it was," replied Kinnison ; "and it caused a 
report to be spread that we killed and scalped all the 



32 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

men who fell into our hands. As I said, I didn't like 
it ; but we had no time for thinking. 

" The enemy saw how fast our men were coming in 
from all quarters, for by that time the whole province 
was aroused ; and they thought it would be best to 
think of getting back to Boston. 

"Well, they started from Concord about twelve 
o'clock. As the main body marched along the road, 
the flanking parties tried to cover them, but it was of 
little use. We followed, and kept picking off men 
from their rear, while it seemed as if there was a 
minute-man behind every fence or tree by the road. 

"We didn't march under any regular orders, but 
each man tried to do all he could with his musket. 
I and two or three other Lebanon men kept together, 
and managed to pick off some men at every by-road. 

"At one time, we just escaped the attack of a 
flanking party who killed some of the militia a short 
distance from us. We lay concealed in the bushes till 
they went by, and then followed them up as before. 

"At two or three points, some companies of minute- 
men attacked the enemy in the open field, and killed 
a considerable number of them. When they reached 
Lexington they were almost worn out, and could not 
have marched much farther. 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 33 

"Just then, we saw a large re-enforcement of the 
redcoats, under Lord Percy, coming along the Rox- 
bury road, and we had to hold off a while. You ought 
to have seen those royals, how they lay stretched on 
the ground, with their tongues hanging out of their 
mouths. 

"I got on the top of a stone barn, and saw Percy's 
men form a hollow square about Smith's troops, in 
order to protect them while they got a little breath. 
But they could not halt long. The woods were swarm- 
ing with minute-men ; and, if they waited, their retreat 
would have been cut off. 

" Well, they started again, and our men followed as 
before, picking off men from the flanks and rear. At 
West Cambridge, we met Dr. Warren with a party of 
our men, and attacked the enemy boldly. 

" But their bayonets. kept us off ; and we only roused 
them so much that they plundered and burnt some 
houses along the road, and butchered some women 
and children. Well, after a hard struggle, the enemy 
reached Charlestown, and then Gen. Heath called us 
from the pursuit." 

"I've read," remarked Mr. Hand, "that the British 
loss during that day was nearly three hundred, — that 
is, including wounded and prisoners." 



34 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" It amounted to that, at least," replied Kinnison ; 
"and our loss was less than one hundred men. I think 
the royals got a taste of our spirit that day." 

" Here is a man who can tell you something about 
the retreat of the enemy," said Pitts, pointing to one 
of the old men, named Jonas Davenport. 

" Yes," said Jonas, "I know a little about it. I 
lived near Lexington. My house stood on the road. 
I joined the minute-men when I heard of the coming 
of the British troops, and left my wife and two chil- 
dren at home, under the care of my father, then about 
sixty. I told them to keep as quiet as possible, and 
they would be safe. 

"Well, as I said, I joined the minute-men, and, when 
the British rascals retreated from Concord, followed 
and did some execution with my firelock. But one of 
them shot me in the shoulder, and I couldn't point my 
gun any more. 

"I waited till the enemy had eot a considerable dis- 
tance on the road towards Boston, and then managed 
to reach my house. But such a house as I found it ! 
The windows were broken in, the doors torn off their 
hinges, and the furniture broken and thrown about in 
heaps. 

" I called for my father and wife, but received no 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 35 

reply. I crawled up stairs, for I was nearly exhausted 
from loss of blood; and there I found my father and 
oldest child stretched on the floor dead. The old man 
had his gun still clinched in his hand ; and he had, no 
doubt, done the enemy some damage with it. But his 
face was beaten in, and he had two or three bayonet- 
stabs in his breast. The little boy had been shot 
through the head. 

" I was a pretty tough-hearted man, but I fainted at 
the sight ; and, when I came to myself, I found my 
wife and the youngest child bending over me crying. 
How they did hug and kiss me when they saw me 
revive ! I think I did as much to them, for I never 
expected to see them alive. 

" My wife told me that the old man would fire at the 
British as they were passing the house ; and some of 
them stopped, broke open the doors, and knocked the 
things about. The old man and the little boy ran up 
stairs, while my wife and the other child ran from the 
house towards a neighbor's. 

" As she ran away she heard the muskets fired, but 
couldn't stop, as she thought the rascals were after 
her. She had returned as soon as she knew they were 
far on the road. 

"I didn't grieve long, but sent her for the doctor 



36 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

at Lexington to dress my wound. Boys, boys, I've 
made many a redcoat pay for the lives of that old 
man and child. I hated them enough before, but that 
day's work made me all gall ! " 

The memory of gratified revenge lighted up the old 
man's eyes as he spoke. He was a man of stern spirit, 
and no thought that such revenge was wrong ever 
crossed his mind. 

" I can tell you folks of something more about that 
retreat from Concord," continued Davenport. "The 
story is generally known up around the country here, 
but some of you may not have heard it. It's about 
old Hezekiah Wyman, who gained the name of 'Death 
on the pale horse.' " 

"I heard the story, and saw the old man on his 
white horse," remarked Kinnison ; "but it will inter- 
est the young men, no doubt, so drive on." 

"Well, you see," began Davenport, "the window of 
old Hezekiah Wyman's house looked out on the ground 
where the British shot our men at Lexington. The 
old man saw the whole affair, and it made him so sav- 
age that he vowed to revenge his countrymen if he 
fell in doing it. 

"'Wife,' said he, 'is there not an old gun-barrel 
somewhere in the garret ? ' 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 37 

"'I believe there is,' said she; 'but pray what do 
you want with it ? ' 

"Tshould like to see if it is fit for service/ replied 
he. * If I am not mistaken, it is good enough to drill 
a hole through a regular/ 

" ' Mercy on me, husband'! are you going mad ? An 
old man like you — sixty years last November — to talk 
of going to war! I should think you had seen enough 
of fighting the British already. There lie poor Capt. 
Roe and his men bleeding on the grass before your 
eyes. What could you do with a gun ? ' 

" The old man made no reply, but ascended the stairs, 
and soon returned with a rusty barrel in his hands. In 
spite of his wife's incessant din, he went to his shop, 
made a stock for it, and put it in complete order for use. 

"He then saddled a strong white horse, and mounted 
him. He gave the steed the rein, and directed his 
course toward Concord. He met the British troops 
returning, and was not long in perceiving that there 
was a wasp's nest about their ears. 

" He dashed so closely upon the flank of the enemy 
that his horse's neck was drenched with the spouting 
blood of the wounded soldiers. Then reining back his 
snorting steed to reload, he dealt a second death upon 
the ranks with his never-failing bullet. 



38 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" The tall, gaunt form of the assailant, his gray 
locks floating on the breeze, and the color of his steed, 
soon distinguished him from the other Americans ; and 
the regulars gave him the name of ' Death on the pale 
horse.' 

"A dozen bullets whizzed by his head when he 
made the first assault ; but undismayed the old patriot 
continued to prance his gay steed over the heads of 
the foot-soldiers, — to do his own business faithfully, 
in the belief that, because others did wrong by firing 
at him, it would be no excuse for him to do wrong by- 
sparing the hireling bullies of a tyrannical government. 

" At length a vigorous charge of the bayonet drove 
the old man, and the party with which he was acting, 
far from the main body of the British. Hezekiah was 
also out of ammunition, and was compelled to pick up 
some on the road, before he could return to the charge. 

" He then came on again, and picked off an officer, 
by sending a slug through his royal brains, before he 
was again driven off. But ever and anon, through the 
smoke that curled about the flanks of the detachment, 
could be seen the white horse of the veteran for a 
moment, — the report of his piece was heard, and the 
sacred person of one of his Majesty's faithful subjects 
was sure to measure his length on rebel ground. 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 39 

" Thus did Hezekiah and his neighbors continue to 
harass the retreating foe, until the Earl Percy appeared 
with a thousand fresh troops from Boston. The two 
detachments of the British were now two thousand 
strong, and they kept off the Americans with their 
artillery while they took a hasty meal. 

"No sooner had they again commenced their march, 
than the powerful white horse was seen careering at 
full speed over the hills, with the dauntless old Yankee 
on his back. 

"'Ha!' cried the soldiers, 'there comes that old 
fellow again, on the white horse ! Look out for your- 
selves, for one of us has got to die, in spite of fate.' 

"And one of them did die, for Hezekiah's aim was 
true, and his principles of economy would not admit 
of his wasting powder or ball. Throughout the whole 
of that bloody road between Lexington and Cambridge, 
the fatal approaches of the white horse and his rider 
were dreaded by the trained troops of Britain ; and 
every wound inflicted by Hezekiah needed no re- 
peating. 

" But on reaching Cambridge, the regulars, greatly 
to their comfort, missed the old man and his horse. 
They comforted themselves by the conjecture that he 
had at length paid the forfeit of his temerity, and 



40 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

that his steed had gone home with a bloody bridle 
and an empty saddle. 

"Not so. Hezekiah had only lingered for a moment 
to aid in a plot which had been laid by Amni Cutter, 
for taking the baggage-wagons and their guards. Amni 
had planted about fifty old rusty muskets under a stone 
wall, with their muzzles directed toward the road. 

"As the wagons arrived opposite this battery, the 
muskets were discharged ; and eight horses, together 
with some soldiers, were sent out of existence. The 
party of soldiers who had the baggage in charge ran 
to a pond, and, plunging their muskets into the water, 
surrendered themselves to an old woman, called Mother 
Barberick, who was at that time digging roots in an 
adjacent field. 

"A party of Americans recaptured the gallant Eng- 
lishmen from Mother Barberick, and placed them in 
safe keeping. The captives were exceedingly aston- 
ished at the suddenness of the attack, and declared 
that the Yankees would rise up like mosquitoes out 
of a marsh, and kill them. 

"This chef d'ceuvre having been concluded, the har- 
assed soldiers were again amazed by the appearance of 
Hezekiah, whose white horse was conspicuous among 
the now countless assailants that sprang from every 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 41 

hill and ringing dale, copse, and wood, through which 
the bleeding regiments, like wounded snakes, held 
their toilsome way. 

"His fatal aim was taken, and a soldier fell at every 
report of his piece. Even after the worried troops had 
entered Charlestown, there was no escape for them 
from the deadly bullets of the restless veteran. 

" The appalling white horse would suddenly and 
unexpectedly dash out from a brake, or from behind 
a rock, and the whizzing of his bullet w r as the precursor 
of death. He followed the enemy to their very boats ; 
and then, turning his horse's head, returned unharmed 
to his .household. 

" 'Where have you been, husband ? ' 

" ' Picking cherries/ replied Hezekiah ; but he for- 
got to say that he had first made cherries of the red- 
coats by putting the pits into them." 

"That old man was sure death," remarked Kinnison. 
" I knew the old fellow well. He had the name of 
being one of the best shots around that part of the 
country. I should never want to be within his range." 

" The old man immortalized himself," said Hand. 

"It served the rascals right," observed Hanson. 
"They only reaped what they had sown. War is a 
horrible matter altogether, and I don't like it much ; 



42 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

but I like to see it done up in that old man's style, 
if it is done at all." 

" I should like to have seen that royal officer that 
said he could march through our country with three 
regiments," said Kinnison. " If he was with Smith 
and Pitcairn that day, he saw there was a little of the 
bull-dog spirit in the Yankees." 

"I think," observed Pitts, "we might have that old, 
heart-firing, arm-moving tune, called Yankee Doodle. 
Come, Brown, pipe." 

"Ay," replied Brown; "that tune came out of this 
old fife naturally — almost without my blowing it. For 
some time I couldn't work any thing else out of it." 

" Come, pipe and drum the old tune once more," 
cried Colson ; and it was piped and drummed by Brown 
and Hanson in the real old Continental style. The 
effect on the company was electric. Knives and forks 
and feet kept time to the well-known music. 

Some of the old men could scarcely restrain them- 
selves from attempting a cheer, and the young men 
felt themselves stirred by a feeling of patriotism they 
had scarcely known before. 

The spirit of 1775 dwelt in the music ; and, as the 
quick notes started from fife and drum, visions of 
farmers leaving the plough in the furrow, and shoul= 



THE FIGHT AT CONCORD 43 

dering the rusty and unbayoneted firelock ; of citizens 
leaving their business and homes, to grasp the sword 
and gun ; of stout-hearted, strong-armed minute-men, 
untrained to war's manoeuvres, marching and battling 
with the well-disciplined, war-schooled, and haughty 
Britons, made confident by a more than Roman career 
of victory ; and of the glorious fight at Bunker Hill, — 
came to the minds of all present. Three cheers were 
given, when the musicians had concluded, for the tune 
itself, and three more for those who had played it. 



THE FIFER'S STORY 

"Now," said Kinnison, "I expect that some of you 
men who know something about the old times will 
keep your promise of following my story." 

"I'll tell you a story," replied Brown, the fifer. 
" Perhaps some of you won't believe it ; but it's all fact, 
and that you'll find if you choose to hunt for the papers. 
It's chiefly about me and my fife, and Hanson and his 
drum." 

"Pipe away, Brown," said Kinnison. 

"Well, you see," began Brown, "Hanson and I were 
drummer and fifer in Col. Brooks's regiment at Saratoga ; 
and we were in the battle of Stillwater, fought on the 
19th of September. 

"I'm not going to 'spin a yarn,' as the sailors say, in 
giving you an account of that battle ; for that has been 
said and sung often enough. It is sufficient for me to 
say, that it was the hardest-fought and the bloodiest 
battle that I ever saw ; and Hanson and I were in the 
thickest of it, where the bullets were hailing. 
44 



THE FIFER'S STORY 45 

" Our regiment suffered a good deal in the way of 
losing men, and I saw many an old friend fall near me. 
But at dusk, when most of the Americans were ordered 
to camp, Hanson and I were unhurt. Col. Brooks kept 
the field when the other officers retired with their forces. 

" Some of the men of his regiment were tired, and 
grumbled ; but he wanted to show the enemy that they 
had gained no advantage over us, and that our spirits 
were as strong as when the day's work commenced. 

"This conduct you might have expected from what 
you have heard of Brooks's character. He was all game 
— Brooks was ; one of those whip-or-die men, that are 
not to be found everywhere. 

" Well, as I said, our regiment remained on the field, 
and finally got into a skirmish with some of the German 
riflemen. We knew they were German riflemen by the 
brass match-cases on their breasts. 

" In this skirmish, a ball struck me on the hand, went 
through it, and knocked my fife clear away beyond our 
flank. Well, I couldn't part with my Yankee Doodle 
pipe in that way, without trying to get hold of it again. 

"So I told Hanson, and he put down his drum, and 
proposed that we should go and get it ; and we did go 
out together, while the balls were whizzing round our 
ears, and got the fife." 



46 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

"Hold on, Brown," interrupted Kinnison. "Wasn't 
it a dark night ? " 

"Yes," replied Brown, "but we saw where the fife 
lay, by the quick flashes of the guns. — Didn't we, 
Hanson ? " 

"Yes, it is a fact," replied the drummer ; "and when 
we returned, I found a couple of balls had passed 
through the heads of my drum." 

" I told you I thought you wouldn't believe it," ob- 
served Brown; "but here's the fife, and here's the 
mark where the ball passed through my hand." Brown 
exhibited the scar, and doubt seemed to be set at rest. 
Kinnison, however, shook his head, as if unsatisfied. 

" There wasn't a great deal in the mere going after 
the fife at such a time," continued the fifer; "but I 
thought Fd mention it, to give you an idea of Hanson's 
spirit." 

"Very w r ell," remarked Hand, "we are satisfied now 
that both Mr. Brown and Mr. Hanson are really men of 
spirit." 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 

"Mr. Davenport," said one of the young men, 
"won't you entertain us with an account of something 
you saw or joined in, or did yourself, during the war ?" 

" Were any of you at Quebec with Arnold and 
Montgomery ? " inquired one of the veterans, who had 
been an attentive and silent listener to the preceding 
narratives. 

"I accompanied Col. Arnold on the expedition up 
the Kennebec,' , replied Davenport. 

" Then tell us about it, won't you ? " eagerly exclaimed 
one of the young men. 

"Ay, Davenport, tell us about it," added Kinnison. 
" I've never heard any thing I could depend on about 
that march through the wilderness. Old Joe Weston 
tried to give me an account of it ; but his memory was 
very weak, and he hadn't the knack of talking so that 
a person could understand him." 

" Well, you see," began Davenport, " I was living up 
here on the Lexington road, when I heard that Gen. 

47 



48 -THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

Washington had planned an expedition to Canada by 
way of the Kennebec and the wilderness north of it, 
and that Col. Arnold had been appointed to command 
the troops who were to undertake it. 

"I was preparing to join the army at Cambridge, 
but I thought that Arnold's expedition would suit me 
better than staying in camp around Boston. So I fur- 
nished myself with many little knick-knacks, shouldered 
my musket, and started off to offer my services. 

"They placed me in one of the companies of Major 
Bigelow's battalion. I believe there were about eleven 
hundred men, in all, under Arnold's command, who 
marched from Cambridge to Newburyport. There we 
embarked on board of eleven transports, and, on the 
19th of September, sailed for the Kennebec. 

" I must confess, I didn't like the idea of starting so 
late in the year, because I knew we would meet with 
some of the coldest kind of weather before we reached 
Canada ; but I had to be satisfied. 

"At the end of two days we had entered the Kenne- 
bec, and reached the town of Gardiner. The only 
accident we had met with was the grounding of two 
of our transports, but we got them off without much 
difficulty. 

" I forgot to mention, however, that two hundred 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 49 

carpenters had been sent up the river, before we 
started from Cambridge, with orders to build two hun- 
dred bateaux at Pittston, opposite Gardiner. Well, 
when we arrived at that place, we found the bateaux 
ready, and immediately transferred our baggage and 
provisions to them, and pushed up the river to Fort 
Western. 

" At that place our real work was to commence. 
Col. Arnold knew a great deal about the route ; and he 
had undertaken it because he knew what he had to 
encounter, and how much glory he would win if he 
succeeded. But we men, who were to work and suffer 
most, knew nothing about the route, except that it was 
through a wilderness where few white men had set 
foot. * 

"Before the army started from Fort Western, two 
small parties were sent forward to survey and recon- 
noitre the route as far as Lake Megantic and the 
Dead River. 

" Next, the army began to move in four divisions. 
Morgan and his riflemen went first ; next day, Green 
and Bigelow, with three companies ; next day, Meigs, 
with four companies ; and the next day, Col. Enos, 
with the three other companies. 

" You see, the divisions started a day apart, so as to 



SO THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

prevent any difficulty in passing rapids and falls. Col. 
Arnold waited to see all the troops embarked, and then 
passed the whole line till he overtook Morgan. On 
the fourth day after our party — that is, Green and 
Bigelow's — started from Fort Western, we arrived at 
Norridgewock Falls. 

" You may recollect there used to be a tribe of 
Indians called the Norridgewocks, who had a village 
near these falls. I saw the plain where the village 
stood, and the ruins of the church which was destroyed 
by Capt. Moulton during the war with the tribe. 

" At the falls all the bateaux had to be taken out of 
the river, and transported a mile and a quarter by land. 
You may suppose there was some work about that part 
of the journey. 

"The banks on each side of the river were very 
rugged and rocky, and we had to carry the greater 
part of our baggage on our backs. One-half of the 
party helped the oxen to draw the boats up to the place 
where they were to be put into the water again. 

"We found some of the boats were leaky, and a 
great deal of the provisions damaged, which was 
a matter of importance, as you will see when I get 
farther on in my story. 

"We were seven days in passing round that fall and 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION SI 

repairing our boats. During those seven days, we 
worked as I had never seen men work before ; and, 
strangely enough, there were very few grumblers in 
our party. 

"We joked, and sang lively songs, even during the 
hardest labor ; and I got into a much better humor 
than I was in when I started. 

"We had an Irishman, named Jim O'Brien, in our 
mess, who was one of the best-hearted and quickest- 
witted chaps I ever encountered ; and we had a friend 
of his, named Murtough Johnson, who was as dull and 
blundering as O'Brien was keen and ready. So, you 
see, with O'Brien's jokes and Johnson's blunders, we 
had something to amuse us. 

" I recollect at one time we were pushing our boat 
up on the bank clear of the water, and Johnson handled 
his pole so clumsily that he fell into the river. O'Brien 
hauled him out after he had a severe ducking in rather 
cold water. 

"The officers worked as hard as the men. Every 
sinew and muscle was brought into use. Col. Arnold 
seemed to be ever active, cheering on the men, and 
often lending his hand to aid them." 

"What sort of a looking man was Arnold at that 
time?" inquired Hand. 



52 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

"He was then about thirty-five years old," replied 
Davenport, "of the middle size, and rather stout. His 
face was rather handsome, but there was an iron look 
about his mouth that many a man would not like ; his 
eyes were of a dark gray, and full of fire and restless- 
ness. He seemed never to be satisfied unless he was 
moving about, and doing something." 

" Exactly as I knew him," remarked Kinnison. 

"Well," said Davenport, "I'll return to my story. 
At the end of seven days we were ready to move on ; 
and we soon arrived at the Carratunc Falls, where 
there was another portage. 

"We got round that, however, without much diffi- 
culty. The banks were more level, and the road not so 
long ; but the work afterwards was tough. The stream 
was so rapid that the men were compelled to wade, and 
push the bateaux against the current. 

" There was a little grumbling among us, and quite 
a number of the men deserted. Two days after reach- 
ing the Carratunc Falls, we came to the Great Carrying 
Place. There work was to begin, to which all our 
other work was play. The Great Carrying Place ex- 
tended from the Kennebec to the Dead River, about 
fifteen miles, and on the road were three small ponds. 

" Before we took our bateaux out of the water of 






ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 53 

the Kennebec, we built a block-house on its banks as 
a depository for provisions, so as to secure a supply in 
case of retreat." 

" I thought you said you had no extra quantity of 
provisions," said Pitts. 

"I did," replied Davenport. "We did not intend 
to leave any of our provisions at the block-house. It 
was built as a repository for supplies ordered up from 
Norridgewock. 

" Well, we took the boats out of the water, and took 
most of the baggage and provisions out of the boats, 
and toiled up a steep, rocky road for more than three 
miles to the first pond. 

" There the boats were put into the water, and we 
had a short rest. We caught plenty of fresh salmon- 
trout in the pond, and Col. Arnold ordered two oxen 
to be killed and divided among us, as a sort of treat. 

" At the second portage we built another block- 
house for the sick. At that time I felt sick and 
worn out myself ; but I couldn't think of stopping, so 
I kept my sufferings hidden as much as I could from 
everybody but O'Brien, who did all he could to help 
me. 

"After crossing the last pond, we had several 
marshes and deep ravines to cross. Sometimes we 



54 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

had to wade up to the knees in mud and water, carry- 
ing heavy bundles of baggage on our shoulders, and 
in constant danger of sinking into deep mud-holes. 

" Ha, ha ! I recollect O'Brien, Johnson, and myself 
were toiling along through one of the marshes, Johnson 
a short distance behind, when O'Brien and I heard a 
yell and a cry of ' Och, murther ! ' The yell, I thought 
might have come from a savage, but the ' Och, murther ! ' 
I knew never could. 

" O'Brien's quick eye soon discovered what was the 
cause of it, and I followed him back. There we found 
Johnson, up to his neck in mud and water, yelling for 
help to get out of the bloody dirt. 

"I was the first to grasp his hand; but in pulling, 
my foot slipped, and I fell in alongside of Johnson. 
O'Brien was more careful ; he got on the baggage 
that Johnson and I had thrown down, and by great 
exertions dragged us both out ; but in such a condition ! 
covered with mud from head to foot. 

"Of course, O'Brien and I laid it all on Johnson's 
blundering. O'Brien said he believed Johnson's birth 
was a blunder of nature, she had regretted ever since ; 
and that if he fell into a mud-hole again, he should 
stick there. 

"Johnson admitted that he was thinking of home 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 55 

when he fell into the dirty place ; he was just kissing 
his darlin' Mary when his foot slipped. 

" Well, we shouldered our wet baggage, and waded 
on to the rest of the party ; and soon after, we reached 
Dead River. This river seemed to have a smooth 
current, broken by two or three little falls, and we 
thought we could have quite an easy progress. 

"The boats were easily pushed along, and the men 
got the rest they wanted. As we were going slowly 
along the river, we discovered a high mountain, the 
summit of which appeared to be whitened with snow. 

" Near the base of the mountain we found Arnold, 
with the two first divisions, encamped. We were all 
very glad to see a camp once more, and enjoyed it, I 
tell you, as much as a good meal after a hard day's 
work. 

"■On the day after the arrival of our party, Col. 
Arnold raised the pine-tree flag over his tent, the 
men firing a salute and giving three cheers as soon 
as it was raised. On the same day, Major Bigelow 
went up to the top of the mountain, expecting to see 
the spires of Quebec. But he wasn't a Moses ; he 
didn't see the promised land. After that, I believe 
the people gave the Major's name to the mountain. 

" Ninety men were sent back to the rear for provis- 



56 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

ions, which now began to grow scarce. It began to 
rain before we left the encampment, and it rained the 
best part of three days ; every man was drenched with 
water, as well as all the baggage. 

" Morgan and Arnold, with the first and second 
divisions, had gone ahead, and we followed. One 
night we landed at a rather late hour, and were try- 
ing to get a little rest, when we were awaked by the 
freshet, which came down upon us in a torrent. 
O'Brien waked Johnson and myself just in time to 
allow us to get out of the way. 

"The water rose to a great height, covering the 
low grounds on each side of the river, and the current 
became very rapid. As the bateaux moved on, they 
would get entangled among the driftwood and bushes. 
Sometimes we wandered from the main stream into 
the branches, and then we would have to fall back 
into the proper course. 

"The number of falls seemed to increase as we 
advanced, and of course there was a portage at every 
one. I was almost worn out with toil and sickness ; 
yet I was sustained by the hope of succeeding in the 
expedition, and of doing some injury to the enemy 
before I died. You know how an excited spirit will 
overcome weakness of body. 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 57 

" At length a disaster happened to our party which 
almost checked the expedition. By some bad manage- 
ment, and partly by accident, seven of our bateaux 
were overset. O'Brien, Johnson, and myself were 
among the men thrown into the water ; and we had 
a terrible time of it, clinging to the bottoms of the 
bateaux. 

" We pushed the boats ashore, and not a single man 
was drowned ; but all the baggage and provisions in 
the boats were lost. That made such a breach in our 
provisions, that the boldest hearts began to be seized 
with despair. 

"We were then thirty miles from the head of 
Chaudiere River, and we had provisions for twelve 
days at the farthest. A council of war was held, and 
it was decided to send the sick and feeble men back, 
and to press forward with the others. 

" Col. Arnold wrote to Col. Greene and Col. Enos, 
who were in the rear, to select such a number of 
their strongest men that could supply themselves 
with fifteen days' provisions, and to come on with 
them, leaving the others to return to Norridgewock. 
You know how Col. Enos acted upon that order : 
he marched back to Cambridge, while Col. Greene 
obeyed Col. Arnold's instructions." 



58 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" People have different opinions of that man's con- 
duct/' said Kinnison. " For my part, I think he was 
a poor-spirited man, if not a coward.'' 

"I think so too," said Davenport. " Although his 
court-martial acquitted him, Gen. Washington and 
other officers showed such dissatisfaction, that he 
resigned his commission." 

" Never mind the shirk," said Pitts: "tell us how 
the men of the right grit made out." 

" Well," said Davenport, " after Col. Arnold had 
arranged his plans, he hurried forward with sixty 
men, intending to proceed as soon as possible to the 
inhabitants on the Chaudiere, and send back provisions 
to the main body. When we started again, the rain 
had changed to snow, which fell two inches deep. 
Ice formed on the surface of the water, through which 
we were forced to wade and drag the boats. You may 
talk about suffering at Valley Forge, but I tell you it 
was no kind of circumstance to what we men endured. 
We were cold, hungry, and tired all the time, and yet 
we couldn't rest, for fear of starvation in the wilderness. 

" I always think my living through it all was owing 
to O'Brien's care, and his trying to keep me in good 
spirits. Poor fellow ! he met his death at Quebec. I 
shall never forget him. The man who could forget 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 59 

such service at such a time would be a blot upon the 
name of humanity.'' 

Davenport paused, as if indulging mournful memory, 
and then proceeded : " Near the source of the Dead 
River, we had to pass through a string of small lakes, 
choked with driftwood and rocks. So it seemed as if 
we met greater difficulty at every step of our advance. 

" At last we reached the four-mile carrying-place, 
from the Dead River to the stream that leads into Lake 
Megantic. We took the bateaux out of the water, and 
dragged and carried them over the highlands till we 
reached the little stream, which conducted us by a very 
crooked course into Lake Megantic. I began to think 
our toils and dangers would soon be over, and of course 
worked with a light heart. 

"At the lake, we found Lieut. Steel and the explor- 
ing party which had been sent forward to explore and 
clear the path at the portages. The night after our 
party entered the lake, we encamped on the eastern 
shore, where a large Indian wigwam, that appeared as if 
it had been used for a council, served to shelter us from 
the cold winds. 

" Col. Arnold ordered Hanchet and fifty men to 
march by land along the shore of Chaudiere River, and 
he himself embarked with Capt. Oswald, Lieuts. Steel 



60 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

and Church, and thirteen men, determined to proceed 
as soon as possible to the French inhabitants, and send 
back provisions to the army. This was the only plan 
to save the men from starvation. 

"You see, the Chaudiere is a rough, rapid river, the 
water in some places boiling and foaming over a rocky 
bottom. The baggage had to be lashed to the boats. 
Arnold's party fell among the rapids. Three of the 
boats were overset, dashed to pieces against the rocks, 
and their contents swallowed up by the waves. Six 
men struggled for some time in the water, but were 
saved. 

"That accident turned out to be a lucky one ; for no 
sooner had the men dried their clothes and re-embarked, 
than one of them, who had gone forward, cried out, k A 
fall ahead ! ' and thus the whole party was saved from 
destruction. 

" Soon after we entered the Chaudiere, we worked 
round several falls, and kept clear of the rapids for a 
while ; but it couldn't last, We lost boats here and 
there, till we hadn't enough to carry the men and what 
baggage we had with us ; and so we took to the land, 
and began our march through the woods alons: the 
banks of the river. 

" Now a kind of suffering be^an, which we hadn't 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 6l 

dreamed of when we started, but which we had been 
expecting before we lost our boats. We had to drag 
ourselves along, over rocks and ravines, and through 
thick underwood, with starvation staring us in the face. 

" I had never been a hearty feeder, and could bear 
the want of provisions better than those in good health, 
and who had accustomed themselves to cramming. But 
poor Johnson fainted several times on the march, and 
O'Brien suffered more than he would tell. 

" Every thing eatable was at length entirely used. 
Several dogs, generally favorites of their owners, had 
been killed and entirely devoured, even to the entrails. 
O'Brien, Johnson, and myself boiled our moccasins, to 
see if any nourishment could be drawn from the deer- 
skin. But the skins were dry. 

" It seemed as if we were doomed to starvation. No 
game of any kind appeared, and even the eatable roots 
were not to be found. I remember seeing a party of 
men, Johnson among them, discover a well-known root 
in the sand, and rush for it as if it had been a diamond. 
The man who got it devoured it instantly, though at 
any other time it would have made him sick." 

" I wonder how those men would have acted if they 
had met such a loaded table as this in the woods," said 
Hand. 



62 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Acted!" said Davenport. " Like wolves whose 
stomachs had been pinched with hunger for a week. 
You may judge from what I tell you. As we were 
marching slowly through the woods, a set of ragged 
skeletons, the foremost of the party caught sight of 
some Canadians and Indians coming towards us, with 
great packages and bundles which we knew were the 
provisions sent by Col. Arnold. 

" There was a perfect yell of joy, and the whole party 
rushed towards them. But Major Bigelow and his 
officers kept the men off from the food, at the sword's 
point. 

" The food was then distributed in very small quanti- 
ties to each man. How it disappeared ! I venture to 
say that ten minutes after the men received their 
shares, they had devoured them all. The Canadians 
and Indians were ordered to keep enough provisions 
for the other troops, who were fed as they came up. 

" At last we caught sight of the French settlement 
of Sertigan, where Col. Arnold had arrived some days 
before. The people came out to receive us, but they 
wondered at us as if we were more than men. They 
offered us plenty of food and clothing, and took care of 
the sick. Within four or five days, the whole army 
was collected by small parties at Sertigan.'' 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 63 

" What was the number of the troops who arrived 
safe ? " inquired Pitts. 

" About five hundred and fifty men, I suppose," re- 
plied Davenport. "The rest had either gone back with 
Enos, deserted, or been left at the block-house, sick." 

"How long did the expedition occupy?" inquired 
Hand. 

"About two months," replied Davenport. "For 
thirty-two days we traversed a dreary wilderness with- 
out meeting a human being." 

" It was a great feat, and the men who performed it 
are entitled to high renown," said Hand. 

"Many of them afterwards became distinguished," 
said Davenport. "Morgan, Dearborn, Meigs, Febiger, 
Greene, and others were known to the enemy in after 
years." 

Mr. Hand then said he had a song to sing to the tune 
of "Ye Mariners of England." It was not his own com- 
position. He had found it in print, and, knowing the 
music, thought it would be acceptable. Being pressed 
to sing, he complied, singing the following words : — 

" Ye freemen of Columbia, 

Who guard our native coast, 
Whose fathers won your liberty, 
Your country's pride and boast; 



64 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

Your glorious standard rear again, 

To match your ancient foe, 
As she roars on your shores, 

Where the stormy tempests bio- 
As she prowls for prey on every shore, 

Where the stormy tempests blow. 

" The spirits of your fathers 

Shall hover o'er each plain. 
Where in their injured country's cause 

The immortal brave were slain. 
Where bold Montgomery fearless fell, 

Where carnage strewed the field, 
In your might shall you fight, 

And force the foe to yield : 
And on the Heights of Abraham 

Your country's vengeance wield. 

" Columbia fears no enemy 

That ploughs the briny main ; 
Her home a mighty continent, 

Its soil her rich domain ! 
To avenge our much-loved country's wrongs, 

To the field her sons shall fly, 
While alarms sound to arms. 

We'll conquer, or we'll die. 
When Britain's tears may flow in vain. 

As low her legions lie. 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 65 

" Columbia's eagle standard 

Triumphant then shall tower, 
Till from the land the foe depart, 

Driven by its gallant power. 
Then, then, ye patriot warriors ! 

Our song and feast shall flow, 
And no more, on our shore, 

Shall war's dread tempests blow ; 
But the breeze of peace shall gently breathe, 

Like the winds that murmur low." 

Th$ song was well received by the company, who 
were not disposed to be critical. The drum and fife 
were then brought into play ; Brown and Hanson, with- 
out entreaty, striking up " Come out, ye Continent- 
allers." This rollicking tune called up such laughable 
associations, that one of the young men proposed that 
it should be sung. 

No one knew it entire, except Brown the fifer, who 
had been the musician of his mess, as well as of the com- 
pany ; and Brown complied with the repeated entreaties 
of the young men, singing the following ludicrous 
words in a cracked and weak remnant of a voice : — 

" Come out, ye Continentallers ! 
We're going for to go 
To fight the redcoat enemy, 

Who're plaguy ' cute,' you know. 



66 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Now, shoulder whoop ! eyes right and dress ! 
Front ! — Davis, wipe your nose — 
Port whoop ! — that's slick — now, carry whoop ! — 
Mike Jones, turn out your toes. 

" Charge bagnet ! — that's your sort, my boys : 
Now, quick time! march! — that's right; 
Just so we'd poke the enemy, 
If they were but in sight. 

" Halt ! shoulder whoop ! — stop laughing, Nick — 
By platoons, wheel ! halt ! dress ! 
Hold up your muzzles on the left; 
No talking, more or less. 

" Bill Sneezer, keep your canteen down, 
We're going for to travel. 
* Captain, I wants to halt a bit, 
My shoe is full of gravel.' 

" Ho ! strike up music ! for'ard march ! 
Now point your toes, Bob Rogers. 
See, yonder are the redcoat men ! 
Let fly upon 'em, sogers." 

This song was written in the early part of the Revo- 
lutionary war, to burlesque the meeting of the country 
militia, and afterwards became very popular. Although 



ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION 67 

Brown had not much voice, he managed to give a 
correct and exceedingly laughable expression to the 
old song. 

" That may be all true enough of some of the coun- 
try militia," said Robinson; "but in our village there 
was no such foolery. Regulars — and British ones at 
that — couldn't have gone through a better training, or 
a better drill. 

" One of the British officers at Saratoga said that 
the New England militia were equal to regulars ; 
and as far as marching up to cannons' mouths and 
driving back dragoons goes, I think they were, my- 
self. 

"You see, for a long time previous to the battle of 
Lexington, we had trainings all around the country; 
and some of our officers were men who had seen some 
hard service in the Old French War. 

"Why, just look at the men that Ethan Allen and 
Arnold led against Ticonderoga, as strong a place as 
was ever fortified in the Northern States. There was 
not a bolder or better-conducted enterprise in the whole 
war." 



THE EXPEDITION AGAINST TICONDEROGA 

" Were either of you in the expedition against 
Ticonderoga ? " inquired Hand, wishing to learn the 
particulars of that affair. 

" Ay," replied a little old man, who had quit eating 
and fallen asleep during Davenport's narrative, and had 
only wakened up at the sound of the drum and fife 
playing "Come out, ye Continentallers." " I was with 
Ethan Allen. I was one of the Green Mountain boys 
that did the thing." 

"Then perhaps you can tell us something about it," 
said Kinnison, "and about the quarrel between Allen 
and Arnold. I never heard the facts of the case ; but 
from what I know of the two men, I feel sure Arnold 
was wrong." 

"To be sure he was," said old Timothy Ransom. 
"To be sure he was. But I'll tell you all I know about 
the matter. I was at work on my farm when I heard 
of the battle of Lexington. 

" I belonged to a regiment of militia that used to 

68 



THE EXPEDITION AGAINST TICONDEROGA 69 

meet for drill on a neighboring farm. Ethan Allen 
was the colonel, and he was fit to be the leader any- 
where. He would lead where any would follow, was 
as honest a man as ever breathed, and had a great 
share of strong sense. 

"As soon as Col. Allen heard that the war had 
really begun, he determined to seize Ticonderoga, 
where a great quantity of munitions of war were 
stored. I forgot to tell you, however, that Allen 
was commissioned a colonel by the government of 
Vermont. 

"He collected our boys at his residence, and marched 
to Bennington, where he expected to be joined by more 
volunteers. At Bennington we met Col. Easton, with 
some men from his regiment of militia. Our party 
then amounted to two hundred and seventy men ; and, 
though I was one among them, I may be allowed to 
say that a more daring and a tougher set of men were 
never assembled. 

" About dusk on the 7th of May we reached Castle- 
ton, that's about fourteen miles east of Skenesborough. 
There we were to make our final arrangements. 

"A council of war was held. Col. Allen was ap- 
pointed commander of the expedition, Col. Easton 
second in command, and Seth Warner third. Allen, 



70 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

with the main force, was to march to Shoreham, oppo- 
site Ticonderoga ; Capt. Herrick with thirty men was 
to push up to Skenesborough, and capture the young 
Major Skene, confine his people, and, seizing all the 
boats he could find there, hasten to join Allen at 
Shoreham ; and Capt. Douglas was to proceed to 
Panton, beyond Crown Point, and secure all the boats 
that should fall in his way. 

" On the 9th of May, Arnold arrived at Castleton 
with a few officers and men, and, after introducing 
himself to our officers, showed a commission from 
the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, by which he 
claimed the supreme command. 

"But our boys wouldn't hear any thing of the kind. 
We all said that Ethan Allen was our leader, and if 
he had not the command we would march back to our 
homes. So Col. Arnold found that he would have to 
join us without a command, or go back where he came 
from. He chose to join as a mere volunteer, smother- 
ing his claim till another occasion. 

" On the same day on which Col. Arnold arrived, 
Mr. Phelps, one of the Connecticut Committee who 
were with us, disguised himself as a countryman who 
wanted to be shaved, and visited Ticonderoga to spy 
into the condition of the garrison. He found that 



THE EXPEDITION AGAINST TICOXDEROGA 71 

the walls of the old fort were broken down, and that the 
small garrison were careless of all discipline. 

" As soon as Col. Allen was informed of this state of 
things, he resolved to move on at once. We marched 
to the shore of the lake, opposite Ticonderoga, during 
the night of the 9th of May. Allen had secured a 
guide in a boy named Nathan Beman, who was fully 
acquainted with every secret way that led into the 
fortress. 

" But we found that we hadn't boats enough to carry 
all the party over the lake. Allen, Arnold, Easton, 
and eighty-three of the men, of whom I was one, had 
crossed just as the day was beginning to dawn. 

" To wait would have been too hazardous, as the 
garrison, if aroused, might make a stout resistance, 
and we wanted to buy success as cheaply as possible. 
Col. Allen resolved to commence the attack at once. 

" We were drawn up in three ranks on the shore 
nearly opposite the fort. Allen then made a short ad- 
dress to us. He was never a man of many words. He 
said he knew our spirit, and hoped we would remember 
the cause for which we were about to strike ; that 
would nerve the arm of a coward. He concluded by 
conjuring us to obey orders strictly, and to commit no 
slaughter that could be avoided. 



J2 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Then, with Arnold at his side, Allen led us 
stealthily up the rocks to the sally-port. I saw the 
sentinel snap his fusee at our bold leader, and rush 
into the covered way that led into the fort. 

" We followed upon his heels, and were thus guided 
right into the parade within the barracks. There 
another sentinel made a thrust at Easton. But Col. 
Allen struck him on the head with his sword, and 
the fellow begged for quarter. 

" As we rushed into the parade, we gave a tremen- 
dous shout, and filed off in two divisions. The men 
of the garrison leaped from their beds, seized their 
arms, and rushed into the parade, only to be seized by 
our men. 

"I snatched a musket from a redcoat's hand just as 
he was taking aim at Capt. Herrick, and made the 
fellow shriek for quarter by merely striking him along- 
side of the face with my fist. 

" While we were securing the men, Col. Allen and 
the boy Nathan Beman went up-stairs to the door of 
the room in which Capt. Delaplace and his wife were 
sleeping. Allen gave three loud raps with the hilt 
of his sword on the door, and with his strong voice 
ordered the captain to surrender, or the whole garrison 
should be slaughtered. 



THE EXPEDITION AGAINST TICONDEROGA 73 

" Our shouting had awakened the captain and his 
wife, and they sprang to the door. Delaplace appeared 
in his shirt and drawers, and recognizing Col. Allen 
as an old friend, boldly demanded why he was dis- 
turbed. Allen replied by ordering him to surrender 
instantly. Delaplace then said, ' By what authority do 
you demand it ? ' 

" ' In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Con- 
tinental Congress/ replied Col. Allen, with the full 
thunder of his voice, as he raised his sword over the 
head of the captain. This convinced the captain that 
the wisest course was to comply, and so he gave the 
order for the troops to parade without arms. 

" Forty-eight British regulars surrendered prisoners 
of war, and the fort and every thing in it became ours. 
The regulars, with the women and children, were sent 
to Hartford. We found nearly two hundred pieces of 
ordnance, and an immense quantity of ammunition 
of all kinds, and plenty of eatables. 

"Just after the surrender, Seth Warner, with the 
rear division, crossed the lake and joined us. The 
prisoners were secured, and then we all took a hearty 
breakfast. We had been up and on duty all night ; 
and that, together with our success, made us enjoy 
that breakfast more than an every-day one. 



74 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Col. Arnold again attempted to take the command 
of our men and the fort. But none of us would obey 
his orders ; and the Connecticut Committee said that 
Col. Allen was the rightful commander, as the men 
were to be paid by Connecticut, and Massachusetts 
had furnished nothing for the enterprise, and Allen 
had been formally chosen. 

" Arnold was forced to yield, but he sent a state- 
ment of the matter to the Massachusetts Assembly. 
That body confirmed Allen's appointment, and directed 
Arnold not to interfere. 

"On the day of the capture of Ticonderoga, Col. 
Seth Warner, with a small body of our men, was 
sent to take possession of Crown Point. But a tre- 
mendous storm arose, and Warner was compelled to 
put back and pass the night with us. The next day he 
started, and captured Crown Point without firing a shot. 

" You see, the garrison only amounted to a sergeant 
and eleven men, and they didn't expect an attack ; 
so that Warner had only to come suddenly upon them, 
and make a bold show, and they surrendered. More 
than one hundred cannon were taken at that place, 
and thus, you see, we had something to begin the 
war with. 

" Col. Arnold gave up the idea of commanding at 



THE EXPEDITION AGAINST TICONDEROGA 75 

Ticonderoga ; but he would command somewhere, and 
so he soon after undertook an expedition against St. 
John's. It appears to me Arnold was very wrong in 
attempting to remove such a man as Allen from the 
command. But I believe he was always thinking of 
himself alone." 

"I can't agree with you, Ransom," said Jonas 
Davenport. "I think he was a selfish man in general, 
but I know he could be generous sometimes. In that 
expedition to Canada, he helped his men whenever he 
could in the smallest matters, when many other com- 
manders would have minded their own comfort alone. 
Let us have justice done to every man. I never liked 
Arnold as a man, but I think he was as good a soldier 
and general as I ever knew." 

"I preferred Old Putnam to Arnold," said John 
Warner. " He was quite as daring, and a much 
better-hearted man." 

" Ay, a braver man than Gen. Putnam never drew 
a blade," said Kinnison. "That man's adventures would 
make as interesting a book as you'd wish to read." 

"I should like to hear some of them," said Hand. 

"You've heard of his great feat at Horseneck, I 
suppose," said Jonas Davenport. 

"Yes," replied Hand, "and often wandered at it." 



GEN. PUTNAM'S ESCAPE 

"I happened to be on the spot, and see that affair," 
said John Warner. " I was on a visit to a friend 
at a farm near Horseneck, when the news of Gov. 
Tryon's approach, with a large force, reached me. I 
hadn't joined the regular army, for a great many rea- 
sons ; but I always took advantage of an opportunity 
to serve the right side. 

" Gen. Putnam's picket of one hundred and fifty 
men, with two field-pieces, was the only force in that 
neighborhood ; but I knew Old Put would have a 
shot at the enemy, no matter how few men he had 
with him. So I shouldered my firelock, and went 
and offered my services. 

" Gen. Putnam planted his cannon on the high 
ground near the meeting-house, and awaited the ap- 
proach of the enemy. Directly we saw Tryon with 
a great force of regulars, coming along the road. Our 
cannon blazed away at them, and checked their advance 
for a short time. 
76 



GEN. PUTNAM'S ESCAPE 77 

" But pretty soon we saw the dragoons and infantry 
preparing to make a charge, and Old Put knew there 
wouldn't be much chance of our withstanding the 
shock. So he ordered us to retire into the swamp, 
just back of our position, where we would be safe from 
dragoons at least, and where we would have an even 
chance with the infantry. 

" I expected to see the general follow us, but he 
turned his horse towards the stone steps that led down 
the rocks from the meeting-house. As we fell back, I 
had time to observe him. 

" When he reached the head of the steps, the horse 
stopped as if afraid of the attempt. But Old Putnam 
knew there was no time to lose, as the dragoons were 
nearly upon him. So he struck his spurs into the 
horse's sides, and they plunged dow T n the steps to- 
gether. 

"I lost sight of the horse and rider just then, but 
saw the redcoat dragoons stop short at the head of the 
precipice, and fire their pistols after them. Not one 
among the redcoats dared to follow ; and, ten chances 
to one, if they had attempted it, they would have 
broken their necks, for the precipice was so high and 
steep as to have one hundred steps cut in it. 

" Before they could get round the brow of the height 



;S THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

by the ordinary road, the general was far beyond their 
reach. Tryon didn't attempt to follow us into the 
swamp, but soon after commenced his retreat. 

" We fell back to Stamford, where we met the gen- 
eral with some militia he had collected, and marched 
back in search of Tryon. The redcoats had completed 
their work, and were out of our reach." 

" That ride was but one of a whole life of such 
deeds," said Kinnison. "There never was a man who 
dared more than Putnam. In the Old French War he 
astonished the boldest savages and rangers by his feats, 
often throwing himself into the arms of death, as it 
were, and escaping without any serious hurt." 

" It was a great pity," said Colson, "that Putnam 
was not a younger man when the Revolutionary War 
broke out. He had spent his best years in fighting for 
the old country against the French and Indians." 

"Perhaps it was better as it was," said Davenport. 
"I think there were brave men enough in our army." 
It was clear that Davenport was disposed to argue the 
respective merits of the generals of the Revolution. 
Hand thought argument might check the flow of good 
feeling, and therefore suggested that thev should have 
more drum-and-fife music. 

Brown and Hanson agreed, and upon request struck 



GEX. PUTNAM'S ESCAPE 79 

up the * White Cockade.' This was spirit-stirring, and 
called forth much applause. Another song was called 
for; and one of the young men sang the following 
song, written for the occasion, but which his modesty 
had hitherto held back. The music was that of ' Rule 
Britannia/ " 

" When our great sires this land explored, 

A shelter from tyrannic wrong, 
Led on by heaven's Almighty Lord, 

They sung, — and acted well the song, — 
Rise united ! dare be freed ! 
Our sons shall vindicate the deed. 

" In vain the region they would gain 
Was distant, dreary, undisclosed ; 
In vain the Atlantic roared between, 

And hosts of savages opposed : 
They rushed undaunted, Heaven decreed 
Their sons should vindicate the deed. 

"Twas Freedom led the veterans forth, 

And manly fortitude to bear: 
They toiled, they vanquished ! such high worth 

Is always Heaven's peculiar care. 
Their great example still inspires, 
Nor dare we act beneath our sires. 



80 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

u Tis ours undaunted to defend 

The dear-bought, rich inheritance ; 
And spite of each invading hand, 

We'll fight, bleed, die, in its defence ! 
Pursue our fathers' paths of fame, 
And emulate their glorious flame. 



' ; As the proud oak inglorious stands, 
Till storms and thunder root it i. 
So stood our new unpractised bands, 
Till Britain roared her stormy bias 
Then, see. they vanquished ! fierce led on 
Bv Freedom and great Washington." 



The song had very little poetry and less music in it, 
but patriotism applauded its spirit. Mr. Hand again 
directed the conversation in such a manner as to glean 
as much information from the veteran patriots as possi- 
ble, and inquired if any of them had seen the hero of 
Bennington, — Gen. John Stark. 

" Oh, yes ! ; ' replied Timothy Ransom. " There were 
very few of the right-side-up men in Vermont that I 
didn't see, and know too. See Gen. Stark ! I guess 
I did, and at Bennington too/' 

" I thought Gen. Stark belonged to Xew Hampshire," 
said Hand. 



GEN. PUTNAM'S ESCAPE 8l 

"So he did," replied Ransom. "The country that 
now makes the States of Vermont and New Hampshire 
was then called the New Hampshire Grants, and was 
governed by one assembly and one council." 

"What sort of a looking man was Stark ? " inquired 
Pitts. 

"Well, he wasn't much to look at," said Ransom. 
" He was about the middle height, and strongly built. 
He had a firm look about the face ; and you might 
have been sure of his doing what he said he would do, 
just from hearing him talk. Blunt and downright he 
was, and didn't- stop to pick words. He had seen a 
tougher life than any of his neighbors, — fighting as 
a ranger and regular soldier; and you might suppose 
there was no nice affectation in his dress and manners, 
like you find in some of our generals. He was a man 
made for service." 

" Did you say you were with Gen. Stark at Benning- 
ton ? " inquired Hand. 

"Ay, and did my share of that day's work," replied 
Ransom. "That was a battle, my boys. If you had 
seen the way that the militia walked up to the enemy's 
cannon, and fought with regulars, you would have said 
at once, there was no use of Great Britain trying to 
subdue such men." 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 

"You shall hear about the battle of Bennington," 
said Ransom. " At the time Burgoyne was advancing 
towards the Hudson, the people of Massachusetts and 
the New Hampshire Grants were alarmed, and feared 
that Burgoyne would march towards Boston. The 
whole frontier was uncovered. But the people began 
to feel the necessity of taking measures to check the 
advance of the enemy. 

" Gen. Stark was then at home, angry with Congress 
on account of his rank not being equal to his services. 
He had resigned his commission in the regular army. 
I was then at my farm, having gone home after serving 
with Col. Allen. I expected to be called into service 
again, but didn't intend to fight under any other orders 
than those of John Stark ; because I knew the man 
had been badly treated, and I and most of the militia 
felt for him. 

"The New Hampshire Assembly met, and began to 

adopt measures for the defence of the country. The 
82 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 83 

militia was formed into two brigades. Gen. Whipple 
was appointed to command the first, and Gen. Stark 
the second. Stark refused to accept the appointment. 
But finding that his name was a host, he was induced 
to yield his private griefs for the public good. 

"He said he would assume the command of the 
troops, if he was not desired to join the main army, 
and was made accountable to no authority but that of 
New Hampshire. His conditions were accepted, and he 
went to Charlestown to meet the Committee of Safety. 

"As soon as I heard that Gen. Stark was in the field, 
I hurried off to Charlestown to join the militia I knew 
would assemble there. I found the men were coming 
in from all directions, and all were in high spirits. 
Stark sent us off to Manchester, twenty miles from 
Bennington, to join Col. Warner's regiment. 

" You know, after that skirmish at Hubbardton, 
Warner could scarcely muster more than two hundred 
men, and we who were sent from Charlestown were to 
fill out his regiment. I found most of the men had 
been in service since the war began, and knew what 
fighting was, and I thought they were a match for 
twice their number. But I had some near neighbors in 
the regiment of Col. Nichols at Bennington : I went 
and joined him. 



84 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" As our regiment was filling up, Gen. Stark arrived 
at Manchester, where he met Gen. Lincoln, who had 
come to conduct the militia across the Hudson to Gen. 
Schuyler ; but Stark told him that the men were called 
together to protect their homes in New Hampshire, 
and could not be taken out of that part of the 
country. 

" I heard afterwards that Gen. Lincoln informed 
Congress of the state of things in our neighborhood, 
and that Congress censured Gen. Stark ; but he didn't 
care for that. He knew he was right in staying in Xew 
Hampshire, and that the men who censured him knew 
nothing about the state of things there. 

"Well, we were called upon to meet the enemy 
sooner than we expected ; for it appeared that Baum, 
with his Germans and Indians, was on his march 
towards Bennington. Soon after, I arrived at [Man- 
chester. About four hundred men had collected at 
Bennington, when Gen. Stark arrived there, and more 
were coming in constantly. I guess it was on the 13th 
of August when we received information that some of 
Baum's Indians had been seen near Cambridge; that's 
about twelve miles from Bennington. 

"Then there was a stir among the men, and all sorts 
of preparation for a desperate battle. We all knew 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 85 

that we were going to fight for our homes, and that 
made us eager to meet the enemy. All the men of 
Bennington who could bear arms joined us, and the old 
men and women and boys did all they could to get us 
information, and to supply our wants, 

" Gen. Stark sent Lieut-Col. Gregg, with two hundred 
men, to check the enemy. In the course of the night 
we were informed that the Indians were supported by a 
large body of regulars, with a train of artillery ; and 
that the whole force of the enemy were in full march 
for Bennington. 

" Gen. Stark immediately called out all the militia, 
and sent word to Col. Warner to bring his regiment 
from Manchester. Before daylight on the morning of 
the 14th of August, Gen. Stark had about eight hun- 
dred men under his command, including Col. Gregg's 
detachment. 

" We then moved forward to support Gregg. About 
four or five miles from Bennington, we met our detach- 
ment in full retreat, and the enemy w T ithin a mile of it. 
Stark ordered us to halt, and we were then drawn up in 
order of battle. 

"Baum saw we were prepared to make fight, and 
halted, instead of coming up to the work like a man. 
A small party of our men were forced to abandon Van 



86 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

Shaick's mill, where they had been posted, but not 
before they had killed a few of the enemy. 

" Stark found that the enemy were busy intrenching 
themselves, and he tried to draw them from their posi- 
tion by sending out small parties to skirmish ; but it 
was of no use, they wouldn't come out and fight ; so 
Stark fell back a mile, leaving a part of our regiment 
to skirmish. 

"Now, you know that's a kind of fighting in which 
the Green Mountain boys were always first best. Be- 
fore we fell back to the main body, we had killed and 
wounded more than thirty of the enemy, including two 
Indian chiefs, without losing a man." 

" The battle should have been all skirmishes," said 
Kinnison. " You might have cut the enemy up piece- 
meal." 

"We tried it next day," said Ransom. "It was 
rainy, and Stark thought it best not to attempt any 
thing more than skirmishing. Our light parties ap- 
peared in the woods on every side of the enemy, and 
picked off the men so fast that the Indians became 
disheartened, and began to desert Baum. 

"The rain, which prevented our troops from attacking 
the enemy, enabled them to complete their intrench- 
ments, and send to Gen. Burgoyne for re-enforcements ; 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 87 

but on the morning of the 16th of August, we found 
that Gen. Stark and a council of war had agreed upon 
a plan of attack, and intended to execute it that day. 

" I don't think there was a man among our troops 
who was not anxious for a fight. Our skirmishes had 
put us in the humor for it. I can't exactly give you 
an idea of the position of the enemy, and of the 
real amount of skill Gen. Stark displayed in his plan 
of attack. 

" But I'll try to do the best I can. The Germans 
were posted on a rising ground near a bend in Wal- 
lomsac Creek, which is a branch of the Hoosick River. 
The ground on both sides of the creek is rolling, and 
the position of the Germans was on the highest of the 
small hills. Peters's corps of Tories were intrenched 
on the other side of the creek, nearly in front of the 
German battery, and on lower ground. 

"During the night of the 15th, Col. Symonds with 
about one hundred Berkshire militia arrived in camp. 
Parson Allen, who, you may have heard, was such a 
zealous Whig, was with the Berkshire men ; and he 
wanted to fight right off. 

" But Gen. Stark told him, if the next day was clear, 
there would be fighting enough. Well, when the 
morning of the 16th of August came, it was clear 



88 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

and bright. Both armies seemed to know that day 
was to decide between them. 

" Gen. Stark had given his orders to all the colonels 
of his regiments. Col. Nichols, with our corps of 
about two hundred men, marched up the little creek 
just above the bridge, to attack the rear of the enemy's 
left ; while Col. Herrick, with three hundred men, 
marched to attack the rear of the right, with orders 
to join our party before the assault was made. 

"Cols. Hubbard and Stickney were ordered to 
march down the Wallomsac, with three hundred men, 
near the Tories, so as to turn Baum's attention to that 
point. 

" We started about noon, and marched through 
the thick woods and up from the valley towards the 
enemy's intrenchments. Our march w T as rapid and 
silent, and the enemy didn't see us until we were near. 

"We gave the first volley, and rushed upon them. 
I saw, through the smoke, Col. Herrick was coming 
up. We had the Indians between us, and you should 
have heard them yell, and whoop, and ring their cow- 
bells, but they wouldn't stand ; they fled through our 
detachments, and left the Hessians to shift for them- 
selves. 

" Soon after we commenced the attack, Gen. Stark 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 89 

made that short address you have heard so much about. 
Josiah Wemyss, one of my old friends, was near the 
general when he spoke. He told me Stark raised 
himself in his stirrups, and said, ' See there, men ! 
there are the redcoats ; before night they are ours, 
or Molly Stark will be a widow ! Forward ! - and they 
did forward, and rush upon the Tories with such force 
that they drove 'em across the stream, upon the 
Germans, who were then forced from their breast- 
works on the heights. 

" Then the battle became general. Such a tremen- 
dous fire I never saw before, and never expect to see 
again. Col. Baum and his dragoons fought like brave 
men, and for a long time could not be broken. We 
attacked them on one side, and Stark on the other ; 
but they stood their ground, and when their powder 
gave out, Col. Baum led them to the charge with the 
sword. 

" But it couldn't last : our men were fighting like 
mad, and our firelocks brought down the enemy at a 
tremendous rate. Many of us had no bayonets, — I 
among them ; yet we marched up to the Germans just 
the same as if we had the best arms. At last the 
Germans gave way and fled, leaving their artillery 
and baggage on the field. 



90 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Our men didn't pursue. You see, Gen. Stark, in 
order to give the men every inducement to do their 
best on the field, promised them all the plunder that 
could be taken from the enemy ; and as the Germans 
fled, we all scattered to seize on what they had left. 

" I had the good luck to get a sword and one of the 
heavy hats which the dragoons wore. I didn't care 
much about the value of the things in regard to the 
money they would bring ; but I thought they would 
be something to keep in the family, and make them 
remember that battle. 

" While I was looking for more things, I caught 
sight of a man riding at a furious rate towards Gen. 
Stark. He called out, ' Rally, rally ! more Germans ! 
rally ! ' and sure enough, we saw a large body of the 
enemy coming out of the woods, in good order. It 
was the re-enforcement Baum had sent for. 

"Gen. Stark had collected a small body of men, 
when I hurried to join a few of our regiment that Col. 
Nichols had rallied. I thought that our victory was 
about to be snatched from us ; but just then Col. 
Warner's regiment arrived from Manchester, fresh 
and well-armed. They attacked the Germans at once, 
while Stark, with about two hundred of us, pushed 
forward to aid them. 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 91 

" Then began an obstinate struggle ; not like the 
other fight with the Germans and Tories, but a run- 
ning fight on the hills and plains, just the kind of 
skirmish in which a hundred Green Mountain boys 
were worth double their number of redcoats. About 
sunset, the greater part of our men were engaged, and 
the enemy was beaten in every part of the field. 

" We drove them from the hills down towards Van 
Shaick's, killing, wounding, and taking prisoners all 
the time. At Van Shaick's mill they made their last 
stand. They had placed a small party of Tories in the 
building, and a party of Germans rallied in front of it. 
But it was no use ; the Germans were driven away, 
and the men in the house forced to surrender. 

" Our men pursued the enemy to the Hoosick, and 
captured the greater part of 'em. I really believe, if 
night hadn't come on, we would have taken every man 
of them. But Gen. Stark ordered the men to return, 
for fear they would fire upon each other in the gloom. 

" Before I came back, however, I caught a Tory 
lurking near the edge of the woods. Now, I hated 
Tories worse than the British or Germans, and I had 
a strong notion to shoot him, and I told him so ; but 
he begged hard for his life, and said he never intended 
to take up arms against his countrymen again. I took 



92 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

him back to our troops, and put him with the other 
prisoners. " 

" What was the loss of the enemy that day ? " in- 
quired Pitts. 

" I heard since, that it was nine hundred and thirty- 
four men, including killed, wounded, and prisoners," 
replied Ransom. " I recollect we buried two hundred 
and seven of them. Our own loss was one hundred 
killed, and about the same number wounded. Besides 
the prisoners, we took four pieces of brass cannon, 
more than two hundred and fifty swords, several hun- 
dred muskets, several brass drums, and four ammuni- 
tion-wagons. So, you see, we had plenty of plunder." 

" I suppose the men w r ere not allowed to take any 
thing but the swords and muskets," said Kinnison. 

" Yes, the baggage fell to us," said Ransom, "and 
all the fixings of the German camp ; the cannon, drums, 
wagons and standards were not taken away." 

" I guess that was one of the most complete victories 
ever gained," said Kinnison. " Only to think of militia 
flogging regulars in that style ! What could the enemy 
expect from our regulars ? " 

" There is as much credit due to Gen. Stark for that 
victory, as was ever given to him, or as we could 
give to a general," said Ransom. " If he had not taken 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 93 

command of the troops, there would have been very 
little resistance to Baum's advance. The plan of at- 
tack was formed with great skill, and the general went 
into the battle with the determination to win it or leave 
his body on the field. Such a man as John Stark would 
make soldiers out of cowards." 

Mr. Hand here proposed three cheers for Gen. 
Stark and his Green Mountain boys, and they were 
given with a hearty will. One of the young men then 
announced that he had a song which had been sung at 
an anniversary of the battle of Bennington, and which 
he would now sing if the company wished it. Of course 
the company did wish it, and the young gentleman sang 
the following words : — 

" Remember the glories of patriots brave, 

Though the days of the heroes are o'er ; 
Long lost to their country, and cold in their grave, 

They return to their kindred no more. 
The stars of the field, which in victory poured 

Their beams on the battle, are set; 
But enough of their glory remains on each sword 

To light us to victory yet. 

" Wallomsac ! when Nature embellished the tint 
Of thy fields and mountains so fair, 
Did she ever intend a tyrant should print 
The footsteps of slavery there ? 



94 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

No ! Freedom, whose smiles we shall never resign, 

Told those who invaded our plains, 
That 'tis sweeter to bleed for an age at thy shrine, 

Than to sleep for a moment in chains. 

" Forget not the chieftain of Hampshire, who stood 

In the day of distress by our side; 
Nor the heroes who nourished the fields with their blood, 

Nor the rights they secured as they died. 
The sun that now blesses our eyes with his light 

Saw the martyrs of liberty slain ; 
Oh, let him not blush, when he leaves us to-night, 

To find that they fell there in vain ! " 

Brown and Hanson had prepared their instruments 
during the singing, and immediately followed it with 
Washington's March, to which knives and forks kept 
time. 

" An incident occurred just after the battle of Ben- 
nington, which showed the spirit of the people of the 
neighborhood," said Ransom, when the musicians had 
concluded. 

" Old Zedekiah Bleeker, who lived in Bennington, 
sent five bold sons to join our little army, just before 
the battle. One of them — Sam Bleeker — was killed ; 
and one of the old man's neighbors came to tell him 
about it. 'Mr. Bleeker,' said the neighbor, 'your son 




MR. BLEEKER AND HIS SON 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 95 

has been unfortunate.' — 'What!' said the old man, 
' has he misbehaved ? Did he desert his post, or shrink 
from the charge ? ' " 

" ' Worse than that/ replied the neighbor; c he was 
slain, but he was fighting nobly.' — 'Then I am satis- 
fied,' said the old man ; 'bring him to me.' Sam's body 
was brought home. The old man wiped the blood from 
the wound, and, while a tear stood in his eye, said it 
was the happiest day of his life, to know that he had 
five sons fighting for freedom and one slain for the same 
cause. There was a spirit of patriotism for you." 

" I can tell you of an instance quite as good," said 
old John Warner. " Perhaps it is better ; for in this 
instance, a woman displayed the like spirit. A good 
lady in 1775 lived on the seaboard, about a day's march 
from Boston, where the British army then was. By 
some unaccountable accident, a rumor was spread in 
town and country, in and about there, that the Regu- 
lars were on a full march for the place, and would prob- 
ably arrive in three hours at farthest. 

"This was after the battle of Lexington, and all, as 
might be well supposed, was in sad confusion; some 
were boiling with rage and full of fight, some with fear 
and confusion, some hiding their treasures, and others 
flying for life. 



96 THE BOSTOxN TEA PARTY 

" In this wild moment, when most people in some 
way or other, were frightened from their propriety, our 
heroine, who had two sons, one about nineteen years of 
age, and the other about sixteen, was seen preparing 
them to discharge their duty. 

"The eldest she was able to equip in fine style. She 
took her husband's fowling-piece, * made for duck or 
plover' (the good man being absent on a coasting 
voyage to Virginia), and with it the powder-horn and 
shot-bag ; but the lad thinking the cluck and goose shot 
not quite the size to kill regulars, his mother took a 
chisel, cut up her pewter spoons, and hammered them 
into slugs, and put them into his bag ; and he set off in 
great earnest, but thought he would call one moment 
and see the parson, who said, ' Well done, my brave 
boy ! God preserve you ! ' and on he went in the way 
of his duty. 

" The youngest was importunate for his equipments, 
but his mother could find nothing to arm him with but 
an old rusty sword. The boy seemed rather unwilling 
to risk himself with this alone, but lingered in the 
street in a state of hesitation, when his mother thus 
upbraided him : — 

"'You John Haines, what will your father say if he 
hears that a child of his is afraid to meet the British ? 



THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON 97 

Go along ! Beg or borrow a gun, or you will find one, 
child ; some coward, I dare say, will be running away ; 
then take his gun, and march forward ; and if you come 
back, and I hear you have not behaved like a man, I 
shall carry the blush of shame on my face to the grave/ 
She then shut the door, wiped the tear from her eye, 
and waited the issue. The boy joined the march. Such 
a woman could not have cowards for her sons." 

" I heard of many such instances," said Kinnison. 
" Such a spirit was common at the time, not only in 
New England, but throughout the States. Look at 
the noble conduct of some of the people of New 
Jersey, during Washington's retreat, and afterwards. 
The women did all they could to lessen the sufferings 
of the men, and many an old man wanted to join the 
army, knowing how much he would have to endure." 



THE CAPTURE OF GEN. SULLIVAN 

"The women were all right during the Revolution," 
said Pitts. " I can tell you of an instance in which a 
woman displayed both patriotism and wisdom, though 
it may be rather a long story.'' 

"Oh! the longer the better," said Hand. 

"Very well," said Pitts, "I'll tell you about it, as 
near as I can recollect. One night, while the British 
army was encamped on Long Island, a party of the 
redcoats, galled by the death of Major Andre, formed 
a plan to cross over to the Connecticut side, and cap- 
ture Gen. Sullivan, who commanded some of the Amer- 
icans stationed there, and hold him in revenge for 
Andre's death. 

"It was a hazardous project, but four bold men 
pledged themselves to undertake it. John Hartwell, 
a brave young officer, was selected as their leader. 

" Soon as arranged they proceeded to a boat, and 
made the best progress they could across the river ; 
on gaining the shore, they made for a small clump of 



THE CAPTURE OF GEN. SULLIVAN 99 

underwood, where they lay concealed until they noted 
what direction it was best to take. 

" Here too may be seen the tents where repose the 
brave men who have sworn to protect their homes and 
country, or die in its defence against the invaders who 
seek to control their free rights. Near may be seen 
a spacious farmhouse, the abode of Gen. Sullivan, — 
the brave soldier and faithful friend, who now slept 
unconscious of danger. 

" Through some neglect, the sentinels on duty had 
wandered from their posts, never dreaming it possible 
that any one would risk a landing, or could pass the 
tents unobserved. By a circuitous route they gained 
the house, and here the faithful watch-dog gave the 
alarm. A blow soon silenced him ; and ascending the 
piazza, Capt. Hartwell opened the casement, and, fol- 
lowed by his men, stepped lightly into the sitting-room. 

" They now struck a light, and with caution pro- 
ceeded on their search ; they passed through several 
apartments, while, strange to relate, the inmates slept 
on, unconscious of this deed of darkness. 

" They, at length, reached the general's room ; two 
of the men remained outside, while Capt. Hartwell, 
with another officer, entered, and stood in silence, 
musing; on the scene before them. 



IOO THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" A night-lamp burned in the room, dimly revealing 
the faces of the sleepers, whose unprotected situation 
could not but awake a feeling of pity even in their 
callous hearts. 

"'Jack,' whispered his companion, 'by Heaven, I 
wish this part of the business had been intrusted to 
some one else ! I could meet this man face to face, 
life for life, in the field of battle ; but this savors too 
much of cowardice.' 

"'Hold your craven tongue, Low,' answered Capt. 
Hartwell ; ' perform your part of the play, or let some 
one else take your place ; you forget the scrape we are 
in at the least alarm. We might happen to salute the 
rising sun from one of the tallest trees on the general's 
farm, an idea far from pleasing. 

" ' For my part, I could wish myself back on Long 
Island. But our general expects every man to do his 
duty : let yours be to prevent that female from scream- 
ing while I secure her husband.' 

"The ear of woman is quick, and from their entering 
the room not a word had escaped Mrs. Sullivan. At 
first she could scarce refrain from calling out, but her 
uncommon strength of mind enabled her to master 
her fear. She scarce knew what to think : her hus- 
band's life, herself, and family were at stake, and her 



THE CAPTURE OF GEN. SULLIVAN IOI 

courage rose in proportion as her sense of danger 
increased. 

" She scarcely dared to breathe, and even the infant 
at her breast seemed to partake of its mother's anxiety, 
and nestled closer to her bosom. 

"The curtains partly shaded where she lay; and, 
breathing a prayer to Heaven for protection, she 
silently stepped from the bed, scarce knowing how 
to proceed. 

" Her woman's tact led her to appeal to their sym- 
pathies, if sympathies they had, — if she died, she but 
risked her life for one dearer than herself, whose exist- 
ence to his country was invaluable, — and perhaps by 
this means enable him to escape. In an instant she 
was before them, her infant at their feet, her pale be- 
seeching face imploring what speech refused to utter. 

" The officers started : this sight was unexpected ; 
the least hesitation, and all would be lost. 

"Capt. Hartwell threw aside his heavy watch-cloak, 
and said, — 

" ' Madam, let this uniform be the warrant for our 
honor. Our object is to take your husband alive, if 
possible; that depends, however, on your silence.' 

" At this moment Gen. Sullivan awoke, and, finding 
his wife in the hands of men whose calling he knew 



102 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

not, his good sword was soon in his hand ; but a strong 
arm wrested it from him, handcuffs were placed on his 
wrists, and he stood their prisoner. 

" He inquired by what right they entered his house. 
'Our object, sir/ replied the officer, 'is to convey you 
to Long Island. The least expression of alarm from 
you, that moment you breathe your last ; if peaceable, 
no violence will be offered.' 

"Mrs. Sullivan threw herself before them, and en- 
treaties for mercy gushed from her agonized heart. 
1 Oh, spare him ! Take what money is here, but leave 
me my husband, the father of my children ! Think, if 
you have wives or families, w r hat their sense of bereave- 
ment would be, to see some murderous band tear you 
from their arms, and they left in horrid uncertainty as 
to your fate! Take all that we have, but leave him.' 
A sneer of scorn curled the officer's lip, as he coolly 
replied, — 

"'Madam, we are neither robbers nor assassins; the 
compliment on our part is quite undeserved. We are 
British officers.' 

" 'Then, sir,' exclaimed Mrs. Sullivan, starting to her 
feet, — her eyes flashing, her proud form trembling, as 
her own wrongs were forgot in those of her country, — 
' shame on the cause that sanctions such a deed as this 



THE CAPTURE OF GEN. SULLIVAN 103 

— in the silence of night to enter a peaceful dwelling, 
and take an unoffending man from the arms of his 
wife and family ! Truly, such an act as this would well 
need the cover of darkness. 

" ' You may call yourselves servants of Britain — 
that is your fit appellation. Take him ! Another vic- 
tim is required for my country. But the vengeance of 
Heaven is abroad ; and, ere long, the men who war for 
the price of blood will find the arm of him who fights 
for his fireside and liberty, nerved by a stronger con- 
sciousness of right.' 

" ' Madam/ interrupted the officer, awed by the stern 
majesty of her manner, ' I came not here to interchange 
words with a woman, or I might speak about warring 
against our lawful king. — But you know, Tom/ turn- 
ing to his companion, 'I never was good at preaching.' 

— 'Not to a woman, certainly,' said Tom, laughing; 
'or rather you could never bring one to your way of 
thinking.' 

"A slight noise warned them of the impropriety of 
their longer remaining. The general, having completed 
dressing, took an affectionate farewell of his wife, as- 
suring her he would soon be enabled to return. They 
left the house, but to gain the shore was a matter of 
some difficulty. The general was rendered incapable 



104 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

of making the slightest noise if he had wished to ; and 
they had tied Mrs. Sullivan, and bound her mouth, to 
prevent her giving any alarm. But the tents were not 
so easily passed. 

" The morning was fast approaching, and the route 
they came would occupy too much time to retrace it. 
Their only plan now was to make as straight a line as 
possible to the shore. Already had they passed one 
tent when the cry, 'Who goes there ?' was heard. In 
a moment they gained the shadow of an adjoining tent, 
when a man suddenly stepped before them, and de- 
manded their business. 

" No time could be lost. The two officers proceeded 
on to the boat with the general, while the remainder 
overpowered the sentinel, and joined their companions 
as the dawn was faintly perceptible in the east. By the 
time an alarm was given, they were far beyond the 
reach of pursuit. 

"Their prisoner was borne in triumph to their com- 
mander, who intended waiting superior orders as to the 
disposal of him. 

" In the mean while, Mrs. Sullivan was not idle. A 
council was called, and every plan was proposed that 
could tend to liberate her husband. 

" The womanly wit of Mrs. Sullivan suggested that 



THE CAPTURE OF GEN. SULLIVAN 105 

they should cross the river in the same manner as the 
British had done, and seize the person of one of their 
influential men, and hold him as an hostage until terms 
could be agreed upon for the exchange of prisoners. It 
was a risk, and, if discovered, no mercy could be 
expected. 

" The nephew of the general, a young officer of merit, 
and several others, volunteered their services. The 
following night was arranged for the purpose. 

"The difficulty, when the time arrived, was to pro- 
cure some mode of getting over. A whale-boat was 
at length found, into which the adventurers got, 
disguised as fishermen. They soon arrived at Long 
Island, and proceeded to the residence of Judge 
Jones. 

" With some difficulty they secured that worthy func- 
tionary, and notwithstanding his assurance as to being 
a good patriot, which they assured him they did not in 
the least question, conveyed the good man to the boat, 
in spite of his wish to finish his sleep out, and embarked, 
pleased with their success. 

"On reaching the house of Mrs. Sullivan, they in- 
troduced their prisoner. Mrs. Sullivan courteously 
apologized for the necessity they had been under for 
requesting his society without due time for preparation ; 



106 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

assuring him that the house and all in it were at his 
service while he honored it as his abode. 

"The judge was taken quite at a loss. At any time 
he was a man of few words, but the sudden transition 
had quite bewildered his faculties. At times he doubted 
whether the good old cognac, of which he had taken a 
plentiful supply before retiring to rest, had not turned 
his head. 

" He stood in the centre of the apartment, gazing 
listlessly around him, until the voice of Airs. Sullivan, 
politely inquiring if her guest stood in need of any re- 
freshment, recalled his fleeting thoughts. The tempt- 
ing repast set before him did wonders in restoring his 
good humor, his sail having given him quite an appe- 
tite ; and at any time a lover of the good things of life, 
and knowing arguments could produce no alteration in 
his fate, he submitted with as much good grace as pos- 
sible, a little alleviated by the reflection that a woman's 
care was not the worst he could have fallen into. By a 
singular coincidence, Mrs. Sullivan learned that her 
husband was an inmate in the house of the judge, — an 
assurance in every way relieving, — having been placed 
in his charge until conveyed from Flatbush. 

" Letters were soon interchanged, the Americans 
refusing to yield their prisoner without the British 



THE CAPTURE OF GEN. SULLIVAN 107 

doing the same. Terms were accordingly entered into, 
and the judge prepared to take leave of his fair hostess 
at the same time her husband was taking leave of the 
judge's wife. The judge had been highly pleased with 
the manners of Mrs. Sullivan, who did every thing 
in her power to make his stay agreeable. 

"The two boats with their respective prisoners at 
length set sail ; and, meeting on the river, they had an 
opportunity of congratulating each other on the happy 
termination of their imprisonment, which, thanks to 
woman's wit, so fertile in expedients, had saved them 
from what might have been a tragedy. 

" With assurances of friendship they parted, the wives 
soon having the pleasure of embracing their husbands. 
Subsequently letters couched in terms of the warmest 
gratitude were exchanged between the two ladies, for 
the attention paid to their respective husbands." 

"That Mrs. Sullivan was a remarkable woman," re- 
marked Colson. " But so were most of the women of 
our side at that time ; and the fact is, such a cause as 
ours would have made heroes and heroines out of the 
weakest. Besides, what will a woman not do to save 
her husband, at all times ? " 

"A good stratagem, — that of Mrs. Sullivan's," said 
Hand. 



THE PATRIOTISM OF MRS. BORDEN 

" I heard of an instance in which a woman was still 
more heroic than Mrs. Sullivan/' said Ransom, "be- 
cause, in this case, the lady suffered for maintaining 
the cause of her country. 

" When New York and Rhode Island were pos- 
sessed by the British armies, and the Jerseys, over- 
run by their victorious generals, opposed but a feeble 
resistance to their overwhelming power, Lord Corn- 
wallis, commanding a large division of their troops, 
stationed at Bordentown, addressing Mrs. Borden, who 
resided on her estate in a mansion of superior elegance, 
demanded in an authoritative tone, ' Where, madam, 
is your rebel husband ? where your rebel son ? ' 

"'Doing their duty to their country, under the or- 
ders of Gen. Washington,' was the prompt reply. 

" 'We are well apprised/ rejoined the English officer, 
' of the influence you possess over the political creed of 
your family, and that to them your opinion is law. Be 
wise, then, in time, and while mercy is tendered to you, 

fail not to accept it. 

1 08 



THE PATRIOTISM OF MRS. BORDEN 109 

" % Bid them quit the standard of rebellion, and cor- 
dially unite with us in bringing his Majesty's deluded 
subjects to submission, and a proper sense of their 
errors and ingratitude to the best of kings. Your 
property will then be protected, and remain without 
injury in your possession. But, should you hesitate to 
profit by our clemency, the wasting of your estate and 
destruction of your mansion will inevitably follow/ 

" ' Begin, then, the havoc which you threaten/ replied 
the heroic lady: 'the sight of my house in flames 
would be to me a treat, for I have seen enough of you 
to know that you never injure what it is possible for 
you to keep and enjoy. The application of a torch to 
it I should regard as a signal for your departure, and 
consider the retreat of the spoiler an ample compen- 
sation for the loss of my property/ 

"This was one. of those threats which the British 
never failed to carry into execution. The house was 
burned, and the whole property consigned to waste and 
desolation. But, as had been foreseen, the perpetrator 
of the ruthless deed retreated, to return no more/ , 

"Just like Cornwallis and his redcoats," said Kinni- 
son; "burning people's houses and wasting their lands 
was a way of making converts, which they practised 
with a vengeance." 



THE ESCAPE OF CAPT. PLUNKETT 

"Yes/' said Warner, "Mrs. Borden was a heroine 
who wouldn't have disgraced the Romans. But what 
would you think of a mere girl, whose family was op- 
posed to our cause, exerting herself to procure the 
freedom of one of our officers, who had been taken 
by the British ? " 

" I should say it is what our young ladies have done 
many a time," said Kinnison. 

" Not under such circumstances," said Warner. 
" But I'll tell you about it as it was told to me. Capt. 
Plunkett was a bold-spirited Irishman, who held a com- 
mission in our army. In some way or other, — it may 
have been at the battle of Brandywine, — Plunkett was 
taken by the enemy, and soon after placed in a prison 
in Philadelphia. 

"Previous to that, he had made many friends among 
the Quakers of that city ; and, indeed, his manners 
made him a general favorite, wherever he went. Plunk- 
ett suffered much in prison ; and his friends pitied him, 



THE ESCAPE OF CAPT. PLUNKETT III 

but dared not attempt his release. However, there was 
a young girl of great beauty, and strength of mind, who 
resolved to release the suffering soldier, at all hazards. 

" It accidentally happened, that the uniform of Capt. 
Plunkett's regiment bore a striking resemblance to that 
of a British corps which was frequently set as a guard 
over the prison in which he was confined. A new suit 
of regimentals was in consequence procured, and con- 
veyed, without suspicion of sinister design, to the 
captain. 

" On the judicious use of these rested the hopes of 
the fair Friend to give him freedom. It frequently hap- 
pened that officers of inferior grade, while their supe- 
riors affected to shun all intercourse with the rebels, 
would enter the apartments of the prisoners, and con- 
verse with them with kindness and familiarity, and 
then at their pleasure retire. 

"Two sentinels constantly walked the rounds with- 
out ; and the practice of seeing their officers walking in 
and out of the interior prison became so familiar as 
scarcely to attract notice, and constantly caused them 
to give way without hesitation, as often as an officer 
showed a disposition to retire. 

" Capt. Plunkett took the advantage of this circum- 
stance, and putting on his new coat, at the moment that 



112 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

the relief of the guard was taking place, sallied forth, 
twirling a switch carelessly about, and, ordering the ex- 
terior door of the prison to be opened, walked without 
opposition into the street. 

" Repairing without delay to the habitation of his fair 
friend, he was received with kindness, and for some 
days secreted and cherished with every manifestation 
of affectionate regard. To elude the vigilance of the 
British Guards, if he attempted to pass into the country 
in his present dress, was deemed impossible. 

"Woman's wit, however, is never at a loss for con- 
trivances, when swayed by the influences of love, 
benevolence, or patriotism. All in this instance, may 
have aided invention. Plunkett had three strong 
claims in his favor : he was a handsome man, a soldier, 
and an Irishman. 

"The general propensity of the Quakers, in favor of 
the Royal cause, exempted the sect in a great measure 
from suspicion ; in so great a degree, indeed, that the 
barriers of the city were generally intrusted to the care 
of their members, as the best judges of the characters 
of those persons who might be allowed to pass them 
without injury to the British interests. 

" A female Friend of humble origin, officiating as a 
servant at a farm near the city, was in the family, on a 



THE ESCAPE OF CAPT. PLUNKETT 113 

visit to a relative. A pretext was formed to present 
her with a new suit of clothes, in order to possess 
that which she wore when she entered the city. 

"Capt. Plunkett was immediately disguised as a 
woman, and appeared at the barrier accompanied by his 
anxious deliverer. ' Friend Roberts,' said the enterpris- 
ing girl, 'may this damsel and myself pass to visit a 
friend at a neighboring farm ? ' — i Certainly/ said 
Roberts, 'go forward.' 

" The city was speedily left behind, and Capt. Plunk- 
ett found himself safe under the protection of Col 
Allen M'Lean, a particular friend of his. Whether 
Capt. Plunkett ever married the young girl who had 
rendered him such service, I cannot say ; but you may 
fancy he did, and it will make a pretty story." 

"Well, now we have had enough about the ladies," 
said Kinnison. 

"Yes," said Hand, "but we must have something 
more about the men of the Revolution. Come, which 
of you will tell something about George Washington, — 
the Father of his Country ? " 

"I can tell you of an important incident in the 
career of Washington, which was told to me by a man 
who witnessed a part of it, and heard the rest," said 
Colson. 



THE TREASON OF RUGSDALE 

"What I am now about to tell you occurred in 
the fall of 1782," began Colson. "Gen. Washington 
was then at West Point. One evening he was in- 
vited to a party given at the house of one Rugsdale, 
an old friend. Several other officers were invited to 
accompany him. 

"The general seldom engaged in festivities at this 
period ; but in respect to an old acquaintance, and, 
it is whispered, to the solicitations of the daughter of 
Rugsdale, he consented to honor the company with 
his presence. 

" He started from West Point in a barge, with some 
officers and men. As the barge gained the opposite 
bank, one of the rowers leaped on shore, and made it 
fast to the root of a willow which hung its broad 
branches over the river. The rest of the party then 
landed, and, uncovering, saluted their commander, who 
returned their courtesy. 

" ' By ten o'clock you may expect me/ said Wash- 
114 



THE TREASON OF RUGSDALE I IS 

ington. ' Be cautious ; look well that you are not sur- 
prised. These are no times for trifling.' 

"'Depend on us/ replied one of the party. 

" ' I do,' he responded ; and, bidding them farewell, 
departed along the bank of the river. 

"After continuing his path some distance along the 
river's side, he struck off into a narrow road, bordered 
thickly with brushwood, -tinged with a thousand dyes 
of departed summer ; here and there a gray crag peeped 
out from the foliage, over which the green ivy and the 
scarlet woodbine hung in wreathy dalliance ; at other 
places the arms of the chestnut and mountain-ash met 
in lofty fondness, casting a gloom deep almost as night. 

" Suddenly a crashing among the trees was heard, 
and like a deer an Indian girl bounded into the path, 
and stood full in his presence. He started back with 
surprise, laid his hand upon his sword ; but the Indian 
only fell upon her knee, placed her finger on her lips, 
and by a sign with her hand forbade him to proceed. 

"'What seek you, my wild-flower?' said the general. 

" She started to her feet, drew a small tomahawk 
from her belt of wampum, and imitated the act of 
scalping the enemy; then, again waving her hand as 
forbidding him to advance, she darted into the bushes, 
leaving him lost in amazement. 



Il6 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

"' There is danger,' said he to himself, after a short 
pause, and recovering from his surprise. " That In- 
dian's manner betokens no good. But my trust is in 
God ; he has never deserted me ; " and, resuming the 
path, he shortly reached the mansion of Rufus Rugs- 
dale. 

" His appearance was the signal of joy among the 
party assembled, each of whom vied with the other to 
do him honor. Although grave in council, and bold 
in war, yet as the centre of a social gathering no one 
knew better how to render himself agreeable. The old 
were cheered by his consolatory word, the young by 
his mirthful manner ; nor even in gallantry was he want- 
ing, when it added to the cheerful spirit of the hour. 

"The protestations of friendship and welcome were 
warmly tendered to him by his host. Fast and thick 
the guests were assembling ; the laugh" and mingling 
music rose joyously around. The twilight was fast 
emerging into night ; but a thousand sparkling lamps 
of beauty gave a brilliancy of day to the scene ; all 
was happiness ; bright eyes and blooming faces were 
everywhere beaming. But alas ! a serpent was lurking 
among the flowers. 

" In the midst of the hilarity, the sound of a cannon 
burst upon the ear, startling the guests and suspending 



THE TREASON OF RUGSDALE 1 17 

the dance. Washington and the officers looked at each 
other with surprise ; but their fears were quickly dis- 
pelled by Rugsdale, who assured him it was only a 
discharge of ordnance in honor of his distinguished 
visitors. The joy of the moment was again resumed; 
but the gloom of suspicion had fallen upon the spirit 
of Washington, who sat in moody silence apart from 
the happy throng. 

"A silent tap upon the shoulder aroused him from 
his abstraction, and looking up he perceived the person 
of the Indian standing in the shadow of a myrtle-bush 
close to his side. 

" ' Ha ! again here ! ' he exclaimed with astonish- 
ment ; but she motioned him to be silent, and, kneeling 
at his feet, presented him with a bouquet of flowers. 
Washington received it, and was about to place it in 
his breast, when she grasped him firmly by the arm, 
and, pointing to it, said in a whisper, 'Snake! Snake!' 
and the next moment mingled with the company, who 
appeared to recognize and welcome her as one well 
known and esteemed. 

" Washington regarded the bouquet with wonder ; 
her words and singular appearance had, however, sunk 
deeper into his heart, and, looking closer upon the nose- 
gay, to his surprise he saw a small piece of paper in 



Il8 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

the midst of the flowers. Hastily he drew it forth, and 
confounded and horror-stricken, read, ' Beware ! you are 

betrayed! ' 

" It was now apparent that he was within the den of 
the tiger ; but to quit abruptly might only draw the 
consummation of treachery the speedier upon his head. 
He resolved therefore that he would disguise his feel- 
ings, and trust to that Power which had never forsaken 
him. The festivities were again renewed, but almost 
momentarily interrupted by a second sound of the 
cannon. 

"The guests now began to regard each other with 
distrust, and many and moody were the glances cast 
upon Rugsdale, whose countenance began to show 
symptoms of uneasiness, while ever and anon he looked 
from the window out upon the broad green lawn which 
extended to the river's edge, as if in expectation of 
some one's arrival. 

" ' What can detain them ? ' he muttered to himself. 
' Can they have deceived me ? Why answer they not 
the signal ? ' At that moment a bright flame rose from 
the river, illuminating for a moment the surrounding 
scenery, and showing a small boat filled with persons 
making rapidly towards the shore. 'All's well,' he 
continued ; ' in three minutes I shall be the possessor 



THE TREASON OF RUGSDALE 1 19 

of a coronet, and the cause of the Republic be no 
more/ 

"Then gayly turning to Washington, he said, 'Come, 
General, pledge me to the success of your arms/ The 
eye of Rugsdale at that moment encountered the scru- 
tinizing look of Washington, and sank to the ground ; 
his hand trembled violently, even to so great a degree 
as to partly spill the contents of the goblet. 

" With difficulty he conveyed it to his lips ; then, 
retiring to the window, he waved his hand, which ac- 
tion was immediately responded to by a third sound of 
the cannon. At the same moment the English anthem 
of 'God save the King' burst in full volume upon 
the ear ; and a band of men attired in British uniform, 
with their faces hidden by masks, entered the apart- 
ment. 

"The American officers drew their swords. But 
Washington, cool and collected, stood with his arms 
folded upon his breast, and quietly remarked to them, 
1 Be calm, gentlemen ; this is an honor we did not anti- 
cipate/ Then, turning to Rugsdale, he said, 'Speak, 
sir, what does this mean ? ' 

"Mt means/ replied the traitor, placing his hand 
upon the shoulder of Washington, 'that you are my 
prisoner. In the name of King George, I arrest you/ 



120 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" i Never ! ' exclaimed the general. ' We may be cut 
to pieces, but surrender we will not ; therefore, give 
way ! " And he waved his sword to the guard, who 
stood with their muskets levelled, as if ready to fire, 
should any attempt to escape. In an instant were 
their weapons reversed ; and, dropping their masks, 
to the horror of Rugsdale, and the agreeable sur- 
prise of Washington, his own brave party, whom he 
had left in charge of the barge, stood revealed before 
him. 

" ' Seize that traitor ! ' exclaimed the commander. 
" In ten minutes from this moment let him be a specta- 
cle between the heavens and the earth.' The wife and 
daughter clung to his knees in supplication ; but an 
irrevocable oath had passed his lips that never should 
treason receive his forgiveness after that of the mis- 
creant Arnold. 

"'For my own life/ he said, while tears rolled down 
his noble countenance at the agony of the wife and 
daughter, — "for my own life I heed not ; but the liberty 
of my native land, the welfare of millions, demand this 
sacrifice. For the sake of humanity, I pity him ; but 
my oath is recorded, and now in the presence of Heaven 
I swear I will not forgive him/ 

" Like a thunderbolt fell these words upon the wife 



THE TREASON OF RUGSDALE 121 

and daughter. They sank lifeless into the hands of the 
domestics ; and when they had recovered to conscious- 
ness, Rugsdale had atoned for his treason by the sacri- 
fice of his life. 

" It appears that the Indian girl, who was an especial 
favorite and domesticated in the family, had overheard 
the intentions of Rugsdale to betray the American gen- 
eral, and other valuable officers, that evening, into the 
hands of the British, for which purpose they had been 
invited to this 'feast of Judas/ Hating in her heart 
the enemies of America, who had driven her tribe from 
their native forests, she resolved to frustrate the design, 
and consequently waylaid the steps of Washington, as we 
have described ; but, failing in her noble purpose, she 
had recourse to the party left in possession of the 
boat. 

" Scarcely had she given the information, and night 
closed round, when a company of British soldiers were 
discovered making their way rapidly towards the banks 
of the Hudson, within a short distance of the spot 
where the American party was waiting the return of 
their commander. 

"Bold in the cause of liberty, and knowing that im- 
mediate action alone could preserve him, they rushed 
upon and overpowered them, bound them hand and foot, 



122 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

placed them with their companions, and sent them to 
the American camp at West Point. 

" Having disguised themselves in the habiliments of 
the enemy, they proceeded to the house of Rugsdale, 
where at the appointed time and sign made known by 
the Indian, they opportunely arrived to the relief of 
Washington and the confusion of the traitor." 

"Who told you that story?" inquired Kinnison. 

" An old friend of mine named Buckram ; he was one 
of the men who disguised themselves," replied Colson. 

" I'm inclined to believe it's a doubtful story," said 
Kinnison. " It's true enough to the character of 
Washington. He never let his feelings swerve him 
from the strict line of duty. But all that about 
the Indian girl is somebody's invention, and the most 
extraordinary thing of the kind I ever heard. I 
don't doubt your friend's veracity, but it is a tough 
story." 

"It's a very entertaining story," said Ransom, "and 
I am inclined to credit it as truth." 

"I'm satisfied of its truth," replied Colson ; "but I 
wouldn't ask any of you to believe it if there is any 
thing in it that you doubt." 

" Three cheers for Gen. Washington ! " suggested 
Hand, and the three cheers were given. A song was 



THE TREASON OF RUGSDALE 123 

called for by several voices, and a young man volun- 
teered to favor the company with " Liberty and Wash- 
ington," the song which follows : — 

" When Freedom, from her starry home, 

Looked down upon the drooping world, 
She saw a land of fairy bloom, 

Where Ocean's sparkling billows curled ; 
The sunbeams kissed its mighty floods, 

And verdure clad its boundless plains — 
But floods and fields and leafy woods 

All wore alike a despot's chains ! 
* Be free ! ' she cried, ' land of my choice ; 

Arise ! and put thy buckler on ; 
Let every patriot raise his voice 

For Liberty and Washington ! ' 

" The word went forth from hill to vale, 

Each patriot heart leaped at the sound ; ♦ 
Proud Freedom's banner flapped the gale, 

And Britain's chains fell to the ground. 
Man stood erect in majesty, 

The proud defender of his rights : 
For where is he would not be free 

From stern oppression's deadening blights ? 
Be free, — be free then, happy land ! 

Forever beam the light that shone 
Upon the firm and dauntless band 

Who fought beside our Washington ! 



124 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Lo ! where the forest's children rove 

Midst woody hill and rocky glen, 
Wild as the dark retreats they loved — 

What now are towns were deserts then. 
The world has marked her onward way, 

Beneath the smile of Liberty; 
And Fame records the glorious day 

Which made the western empire free. 
Be free, — be free then, glorious land ! 

In union be thy millions one ; 
Be strong in friendship's holy band, 

Thy brightest star — our Washington ! " 



This song, and the applause which succeeded, wak- 
ened the sleeping fifer, Brown, who looked around him 
as if wondering where he was. 

" Hallo, old boy ! " cried Kinnison, " you look fright- 
ened. What's the matter with you ? " 

" I was dreaming,'' replied Brown. " I thought I 
was at the battle of Lexington, and the roar of the 
British guns was in my ears. But I find it is only 
the roar of your voices. ' Liberty and Washington ' was 
our war-cry on many a field, and I thought I heard it 
again." 

" It was our peace cry," returned Hand. 

Some of the young men were getting noisy, and 



THE TREASON OF RUGSDALE 125 

losing much of that bashfulness which had hitherto 
kept them silent. In this state of things, Mr. Hand 
was forced to entreat one of the veterans to amuse 
them with some interesting incidents of the Revolution. 
" There was a British officer, whose career has 
often interested me," said Hand, "and that was Col. 
Tarleton. He was a daring, fiery soldier, according to 
all accounts of him ; but a savage man." 



CRUELTY OF TARLETON 

"Tarleton was a regular bloodhound," said Pitts, 
" a savage, though among civilized men. I always 
admired his fiery spirit and daring courage, but never 
could regard him as a civilized warrior. I'll tell you 
of an instance in which Tarleton displayed his charac- 
ter in full. 

" I had a Tory relative in North Carolina, who died 
not long ago. When Col. Tarleton was encamped 
west of the Haw River, Cornwallis received informa- 
tion that Lee's fiery Legion had recrossed the Dan, 
cut up several detachments of Tories, and was scouring 
the neighboring country in search of parties of the 
enemy. 

" The British general immediately sent information 
to Col. Tarleton, to warn him to guard against sur- 
prise. My Tory relative was the messenger, and he 
told me about what he saw at Tarleton's camp. 

"As soon (says the old Tory) as I came in view of 

the British lines, I hastened to deliver myself up to the 
126 



CRUELTY OF TARLETON 127 

nearest patrol, informing him that I was the bearer of 
important despatches from Lord Cornwallis to Col. 
Tarleton. The guard was immediately called out, the 
commander of which, taking me in charge, carried me 
at once to Tarleton's marquee. 

" A servant informed him of my arrival, and returned 
immediately with the answer that his master would 
see me after a while, and that in the mean time I was 
to await his pleasure where I then was. The servant 
was a grave and sedate-looking Englishman, between 
fifty and sixty years of age, and informed me that he 
had known Col. Tarleton from his earliest youth, hav- 
ing lived for many years in the family of his father, 
a worthy clergyman, at whose particular request he 
had followed the colonel to this country, with the 
view that, if overtaken by disease and suffering in his 
headlong career, he might have some one near him 
who had known him ere the pranksome mischief of 
the boy had hardened into the sterner vices of the 
man. 

" ' He was always a wild blade, friend/ said the old 
man, ' and many a heart -ache has he given us all ; but 
he'll mend in time, I hope/ 

" Just then my attention was arrested by the violent 
plungings of a horse, which two stout grooms, one on 



128 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

each side, were endeavoring to lead to the spot where 
we were standing. 

"He was a large and powerful brute, beautifully 
formed, and black as a crow, with an eye that seemed 
actually to blaze with rage at the restraint which was 
put upon him. His progress was one continued bound, 
at times swinging the grooms clear from the earth, as 
lightly as though they were but tassels hung on to the 
huge Spanish bit, so that with difficulty they escaped 
being trampled under foot. 

" I asked the meaning of the scene, and was informed 
that the horse was one that Tarleton had heard of as 
being a magnificent animal, but one altogether unman- 
ageable ; and so delighted was he with the description, 
that he sent all the way down into Moore County where 
his owner resided, and purchased him at the extrava- 
gant price of one hundred guineas ; and that, moreover, 
he was about to ride him that morning. 

" ' Ride him ? ' said I, ' why, one had as well try to 
back a streak of lightning ! The mad brute will cer- 
tainly be the death of him.' — 'Never fear/ returned 
my companion ; ' never fear_for him, his time has not 
come yet/ By this time the horse had been brought 
up to where we were ; the curtain of the marquee 
was pushed aside, and my attention was drawn from 




TARLETON BREAKING THE HORSE 



CRUELTY OF TARLETON 1 29 

the savage steed, to rivet itself upon his dauntless 
rider. 

" And a picture of a man he was. Rather below the 
middle height, and with a face almost femininely beau- 
tiful, Tarleton possessed a form that was a model of 
manly strength and vigor. Without a particle of su- 
perfluous flesh, his rounded limbs and full broad chest 
seemed moulded from iron, yet at the same time dis- 
playing all the elasticity which usually accompanies 
elegance of proportion. 

"His dress (strange as it may appear) was a jacket and 
breeches of white linen, fitted to his form with the ut- 
most exactness. Boots of russet leather were half-way 
up the leg, the broad tops of which were turned down, 
and the heels garnished with spurs of an immense size 
and length of rowel. On his head was a low-crowned 
hat curiously formed from the snow-white feathers of 
the swan ; and in his hand he carried a heavy scourge, 
with shot well twisted into its knotted lash. 

"After looking around for a moment or two, as though 
to command the attention of all, he advanced to the side 
of the horse, and disdaining the use of the stirrup, with 
one bound threw himself into the saddle, at the same 
time calling on the grooms to let him go. For an in- 
stant the animal seemed paralyzed ; then, with a per- 



130 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

feet yell of rage, bounded into the air like a stricken 
deer. 

" The struggle for the mastery had commenced, — 
bound succeeded bound with the rapidity of thought ; 
every device which its animal instinct could teach was 
resorted to by the maddened brute to shake off its 
unwelcome burthen — but in vain. Its ruthless rider 
proved irresistible, and, clinging like fate itself, plied 
the scourge and rowel like a fiend. 

"The punishment was too severe to be long withstood, 
and at length, after a succession of frantic efforts, the 
tortured animal, with a scream of agony, leaped forth 
upon the plain, and flew across it with the speed of an 
arrow. The ground upon which Tarleton had pitched 
his camp was an almost perfectly level plain, something 
more than half a mile in circumference. 

" Around this, after getting him under way, he con- 
tinued to urge his furious steed, amid the raptures and 
shouts of the admiring soldiery, plying the whip and 
spur at every leap, until, wearied and worn down with 
its prodigious efforts, the tired creature discontinued all 
exertion, save that to which it was urged by its mer- 
ciless rider. 

" At length, exhausted from the conflict, Tarleton 
drew up before his tent, and threw himself from his 



CRUELTY OF TARLETON 131 

saddle. The horse was completely subdued, and at the 
word of command followed him like a dog. The victory 
was complete. His eye of fire was dim and lustreless ; 
drops of agony fell from his drooping front, while 
from his laboring and mangled sides the mingled blood 
and foam poured in a thick and clotted stream. 

"Tarleton himself was pale as death, and, as soon as 
he was satisfied with his success, retired and threw him- 
self on his couch. In a short time I was called into his 
presence, and delivered my despatches. Immediate or- 
ders were issued to make preparation for a return to 
Hillsborough, so soon as all the scouts had come in ; 
and the next morning early found us again beyond the 
Haw River — and in good time, too, for as the last files 
were emerging from the stream, the advance of Lee's 
Legion appeared on the opposite bank, and, with a 
shout of disappointed rage, poured a volley into the 
ranks of the retreating columns. 

" I have witnessed many stirring scenes/' said the 
old man, " both during the Revolution and since, but I 
never saw one half so exciting as the strife between 
that savage man and savage horse." 

" It was almost equal to Alexander and Buce — Buce 
— Alexander the Great, and that wild horse you know 
he tamed when a boy — what was its name ? " asked 
Kinnison. 



132 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Bucephalus/' suggested Hand. 

" That's the name," replied Kinnison. " Tarleton 
was more savage, however, than even that conqueror." 

"The same relative told me of several other instances 
in which Tarleton displayed his savage and merciless 
nature," continued Pitts. " After the fall of Charleston, 
a young man named Stroud, who had taken a British 
protection, resumed arms in defence of his countrv. 
Shortly after, Tarleton captured him, and, without any 
shadow of a trial, hung him up by the public road, with 
a label attached to his back, announcing that such 
should be the fate of the man who presumed to cut him 
down. 

" The body was exposed in that manner for more 
than three weeks, when the sister of the young man 
ventured out, cut the body down, and gave it decent 
burial. At another time, a young man named Wade, 
who had been induced to join Tarleton's Legion, de- 
serted, to unite with his countrymen. , He was taken, 
tried, and sentenced to receive a thousand lashes. Of 
course the poor fellow died under the punishment." 

"The wretch! " exclaimed Hand. "I suppose if he 
had fallen into the hands of our men, they would have 
strung him up without mercy." 

" He never would have fallen alive into the hands of 



CRUELTY OF TARLETON 133 

our men," replied Pitts. "Such men know that they 
must expect vengeance. He came near losing his life 
in various battles. At Cowpens, Col. Washington cut 
him with his sabre, and would have killed him if he 
had turned and fought like a man ; at the Waxhaws, 
Capt. Adam Wallace made a thrust at Tarleton that 
would have done for him, if a British trooper had not 
struck Wallace to the earth just at the time.' , 

"There were many Tarletons among the enemy," 
said Colson, " so far as cruelty is considered ; but most 
of them lacked his activity, and were therefore less 
formidable." 

" It seemed as if Tarleton never aimed to win 
merely, but to destroy. He said that severity alone 
could establish the regal authority in America. If a 
party of Americans were surprised, they were not 
made prisoners, but slaughtered while asking for quar- 
ter. He was a tiger that was never satisfied until he 
had mangled and devoured his enemy." 

And so the veterans went on, talking of the cruelties 
of Tarleton, giving his character no more quarter than 
he had given his unfortunate prisoners. 

"There was another British officer in these parts 
who was nearly equal to Tarleton," said Davenport ; 
" I mean Gen. Grey, — the man who massacred our 



134 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

men at Paoli and Tappan. Both these were night 
attacks, it is true, and we always expect bloody work 
on such an occasion. 

" But it is known that our men were bayoneted 
while calling for quarter, which can't be justified. Did 
Wayne slaughter the enemy at Stony Point ? No : he 
spared them, although they were the men who had 
acted otherwise at Paoli." 

" Grey was known as the no-quarter general, I 
believe," said Hand. 

"Yes," replied Davenport; "and he was always 
selected to do the bloodiest work, — the hangman of 
the enemy, as we might say." 

"Hang Tarleton and Grey! " cried Hand. "Tell us 
something of our own men. Did either of you ever 
see Henry Lee ? He was always one of my favorite 
heroes." 



LEE'S LEGION 

" Oh ! yes," said Kinnison, " I frequently saw Lee, 
before he went South with his Legion. He was a 
noble-looking young man, with the judgment of a skil- 
ful general, and the fire of a natural soldier. I knew 
several of his men, who were with him through the 
whole campaign, under Gen. Greene. 

" You may have heard what Greene said of him. 
Speaking of the principal officers under him, he said 
Col. Lee was the eye of the army, and Col. Washington 
its arm ; and he afterwards stated that he was more 
indebted to Lee's judgment and activity for success 
than to the qualities of any other officer. 

" It was Lee who advised Greene to recross the Dan, 
and pursue Cornwallis in North Carolina. Even Tarle- 
ton was very careful to keep out of the Legion's reach, 
when numbers were any thing like equal." 

" I always liked Henry Lee. But he was too severe 
sometimes. See how he slaughtered the Tories with 
Col. Pyle at their head." 

135 



136 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Yes, he cut the poor rascals to pieces," said Pitts. 
"I heard that about three hundred out of four hundred 
men were butchered on that occasion." 

" It's a fact," replied Kinnison ; " but I can't think Lee 
was too cruel there. You see, it's often necessary to 
strike a heavy blow to effect an object ; and Lee wanted 
to put an end to the movements of the Tories, who were 
collecting in great numbers to join Cornwallis. There 
was no better way than the summary one he adopted, 
of making them feel the consequence of being traitors 
to their country and to freedom." 

"It served them just right." 

" I don't defend the Tories," interrupted Hand ; 
" but I think in many instances great injustice was 
done to them. Many of them were honest, true- 
hearted men, who didn't think as the Whigs did, or 
whose thinking did not lead them to the same con- 
clusion. I scarcely think such men could be called 
traitors to their country." 

" No ; you talk very well ; but if you had suffered 
from them, you would have hated the Tories just as 
much as we did." 

" Well, don't dispute about it," said Kinnison. 
"We were talking of Col. Henry Lee and his brave 
Legion. Cornwallis said he never felt secure while 



LEE'S LEGION 137 

Lee was anywhere in his neighborhood ; and that he 
knew how to seek the weak points of an enemy, and 
strike a blow, as well as any partisan officer he ever 
knew. He feared Lee as much as Tarleton feared the 
night attacks of the swamp-fox Marion. 

" My friends in the Legion told me that Lee had as 
daring and enterprising officers under his command 
as the service could boast. Captains Rudolph, Arm- 
strong, and O'Neil, and many others, were the boldest 
kind of partisans. Rudolph was a very small-sized man, 
but one of that sleepless, open-eyed, and determined 
kind that seem born for enterprise and command. He 
led the forlorn-hope in the attack on Paulus Hook, and 
at the sieges of the many forts in Georgia and the 
Carolinas ; and he it was who led the famous charge 
with the bayonet at Eutaw Springs." 

" I saw him soon after he joined the Legion," added 
Hanson. "Col. Lee considered him his best officer, 
I believe." 

" Yes," said Kinnison, " he was one of the best 
officers in the army, conducting sieges as well as he 
did partisan movements. Not long before the British 
evacuated Charleston, Capt. Rudolph performed two 
remarkable exploits that tell the character of the man 
better than words can. 



138 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" The left of the British line was at a place called 
the Quarter House, near Charleston, on what is called 
the Neck. To protect this post on the water-side, the 
enemy had a large armed galley, well manned and 
equipped. Capt. Rudolph, gaining a knowledge of the 
exact position of the galley and her force, formed a 
plan to capture or at least destroy her. 

"He chose only sixteen men, the most daring in 
the Legion, all of whom were eager for such enter- 
prises. A night was fixed upon, and boats prepared. 
There was no moon upon that night, which made it 
favorable to secrecy. 

" At the appointed time, Rudolph and his men rowed 
with muffled oars and ready weapons towards the place 
where the galley was anchored. They had to pass very 
near the British sentinels on the Xeck, but were not 
discovered ; and they reached the side of the galley 
before any of the British were aware that the enterprise 
was afoot. 

" Twenty-six men who were aboard the galley were 
made prisoners with scarcely any resistance, so sudden 
was the attack. These prisoners were hurried into the 
boats ; and then Capt. Rudolph, seeing that he couldn't 
get the galley away from the place in time to get out of 
the enemy's reach, set fire to her. 



LEE'S LEGION 139 

" The party then gave a shout, and pulled away 
towards the shore from which they had started. The 
enemy were alarmed by the firing of the sentinels, the 
glare of the burning galley, and the shout of the daring 
band, and fired some of their artillery after Rudolph. 
But it was too late ; the Americans escaped, and the 
galley was burned to the water's edge." 

"That was equal to Decatur's burning of the Phila- 
delphia," said Hand. 

"It was," replied Kinnison. "Rudolph was very 
much of a Decatur in spirit. Soon after the enterprise 
I have just mentioned, Capt. Rudolph attacked a party 
of black dragoons, who were out foraging for the 
British. The blacks were defeated, and many of them 
taken. In the course of the fight, Rudolph engaged 
one of the largest-sized and boldest of the black 
dragoons in a regular hand-to-hand combat, and in a 
very short time dismounted and captured him." 

"The war in the Southern States had more of ro- 
mance and daring enterprise connected with it than the 
war in the North," remarked Hand; "though it must 
be owned, that the movements of the Northern armies 
were of more consequence in the long-run." 

" Yes, there was more that most young men like to 
read about in the Southern war," replied Warner : 



140 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" plenty of daring movements, but no Canadian expedi- 
tion, nor Saratoga." 

"It's a pity there are no soldiers of the Southern 
army here to reply to you," responded Kinnison. " I 
know, from what I've heard, there never were better 
soldiers than the men who fought under Lee and 
Morgan ; and I scarcely think that George Wash- 
ington himself was a better general than Nathaniel 
Greene. 

" But I was going to tell you of some other officers 
of Lee's Legion. There was Lieut. Manning, an Irish- 
man, who was very much of a favorite among his 
brother officers on account of his good-humor in com- 
pany, and his coolness and bravery in battle. Many 
anecdotes^are told of him which speak his praise ; and 
if agreeable, I'll tell some of them to you as they were 
told to me." 

" Very agreeable," said Hand. 

"The kind of stories I like to hear," added another 
of the young men. 

"Well, you shall hear, if I can recollect aright," con- 
tinued Kinnison. " The intrigues and efforts of Lord 
Cornwallis, to excite insurrection, backed by a very 
formidable force, had produced among the Highland 
emigrants a spirit of revolt, which it required all the 



LEE'S LEGION 141 

energies of Gen. Greene to counteract before it could 
be matured. 

"The zeal and activity of Lieut. -Col. Lee, united to 
his acuteness and happy talent of obtaining intelligence 
of the most secret intentions of the enemy, pointed 
him out as the man for this important service. He 
was accordingly selected, with orders to impede the 
intercourse of Lord Cornwallis with the disaffected, 
and promptly to cut off every party that should take 
up arms for Britain. 

" Constantly on the alert, he was equally anxious to 
give security to his own command, while he harassed 
the enemy. A secure position was, on one occasion, 
taken near a forked road, one division of which led 
directly to Lord Cornwallis's camp, about six miles dis- 
tant. The ground was chosen in the dusk of evening ; 
and, to prevent surprise, patrols of cavalry were kept 
out on each fork during the night. 

"An order for a movement before day had been 
communicated to every individual, and was executed 
with so little noise and confusion, that Lieut. Manning, 
waking at early dawn, found himself, excepting one 
soldier, left alone. Stephen Green, the attendant of 
Capt. Cams, lay near him, resting on the portmanteau 
of his superior, and buried in profound sleep. 



142 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Being awakened, he was ordered to mount and fol- 
low, while Manning, hastening toward the fork, hoped 
to fall upon the track, and speedily rejoin his regiment. 
Much rain had fallen during the night, so that, finding 
both roads equally cut up, Manning chose at hazard, 
and took the wrong one. 

" He had not proceeded far, before he saw, at the 
door of a log house, a rifleman leaning on his gun, and 
apparently placed as a sentinel. Galloping up to him, 
he inquired if a regiment of horse and body of infantry 
had passed that way. 

" ' Oh, ho ! ' cried the man, whistling loudly (which 
brought out a dozen others, completely armed, and car- 
rying each a red rag in his hat), 'you, I suppose, are 
one of Greene's men ? ' The badge which they bore 
marked their principles. 

" Without the slightest indication of alarm, or even 
hesitation, Manning pointed to the portmanteau carried 
by Green, and exclaimed, ' Hush, my good fellow ! I 
have there what will ruin Greene ; point out the road to 
Lord Cornwallis's army, for all depends upon early intel- 
ligence of its contents.' 

"' You are an honest fellow!' was the general cry, 
'and have left the rebels just in time, for the whole 
settlement are in arms to join Col. Pyle to-morrow 



LEE'S LEGION 143 

(naming the place of rendezvous), where Col. Tarleton 
will meet and conduct us to camp/ 

" ' Come/ said the man to whom he had first spoken, 
1 take a drink. Here's confusion to Greene, and success 
to the King and his friends. This is the right road, 
and you will soon reach the army ; or rather let me 
conduct you to it myself/ 

"'Not for the world, my dear fellow,' replied Man- 
ning ; ' your direction is plain, and I can follow it. I 
will never consent that a faithful subject of his Majesty 
should be subjected to the dangers of captivity or death 
on my account. If we should fall in with a party of 
rebels (and we cannot say they are not in the neighbor- 
hood now), we should both lose our lives. I should be 
hanged for desertion, and you for aiding me to reach 
the British army.' 

"This speech produced the effect he desired. Man- 
ning rode off amid the cheers of the company, and, 
when out of sight, crossed to the other road, and, ur- 
ging his horse to full speed, in a short time overtook and 
communicated the interesting intelligence to his com- 
mander. 

" Lee was then meditating an attack upon Tarleton, 
who had crossed the Haw River to support the insur- 
gents ; but, perceiving the vast importance of crushing 



144 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

the revolt in the bud, he informed Gen. Greene of his 
plan by a confidential messenger, and hastened to the 
point of rendezvous, where Pyle, with upwards of four 
hundred men, had already arrived. 

" You have heard of the bloody work that ensued. 
Pyle and his Tories believed to the last that the sol- 
diers of the Legion were Tarleton's men, and were 
therefore easily surprised. About three hundred of 
them were killed ; the rest fled, or were made prisoners. 

"I do not justify such butchery ; but our men ought 
to be excused, according to the laws of war, when we 
consider that these same Tories and their redcoat 
friends never gave the Whigs quarter in case of a sur- 
prise, and that some such slaughter was necessary to 
make them feel that they couldn't murder without pay- 
ing for it." 

"We have already argued that question," said Daven- 
port, " and in my mind it is a settled point that Lee 
was right." Nobody seemed disposed to revive the ar- 
gument, and Kinnison continued: — 

" In this instance you see how ready Manning was to 
break a net or weave one. I can tell you of another 
instance in which he showed his daring courage, and 
quickness of resource in time of danger. 

" At the battle of Eutaw, after the British line had 



LEE'S LEGION 145 

been broken, and the Old Buffs, a Tory regiment that 
had boasted of the extraordinary feats that they were to 
perform, were running from the field, Manning sprang 
forward in pursuit, directing the platoon which he com- 
manded to follow him. 

" He did not cast an eye behind him until he found 
himself near a large brick house, into which the York 
Volunteers, commanded by Cruger, were retiring. The 
British were on all sides of him, and not an American 
soldier nearer than one hundred and fifty or two hun- 
dred yards. 

" He did not hesitate a moment, but, springing at an 
officer who was near him, seized him by the collar, and 
exclaiming in a harsh tone of voice, ' Sir, you are my 
prisoner/ wrested his sword from his grasp, dragged 
him by force from the house, and, keeping his body as a 
shield of defence from the heavy fire sustained from the 
windows, carried him off without receiving any injury. 

" Manning has often related, that at the moment 
when he expected that his prisoner would have made 
an effort for his liberty, he, with great solemnity, com- 
menced an enumeration of his titles : — i I am Sir 
Henry Barry, Deputy Adjutant General of the British 
Army, Captain in the 5 2d Regiment, Secretary to the 
Commandant of Charleston.' 



146 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" 'Enough, enough, sir,' said Manning, 'you are just 
the man I was looking for. Fear nothing for your life : 
you shall screen me from danger, and I will take special 
care of you. 1 He had retired in this manner some dis- 
tance from the brick house, when he saw Capt. Robert 
Joiett, of the Virginia Line, engaged in single combat 
with a British officer. 

"They had selected each other for battle a little 
before ; the American armed with a broad-sword, the 
Briton with a musket and bayonet. As they came to- 
gether, a thrust was made at Joiett, which he parried ; 
and being too near each other to use their weapons with 
effect, they dropped them, and resorted to those with 
which they had been furnished by nature. 

"They were both men of great bulk and vigor, and 
while struggling, each anxious to bring the other to the 
ground, a grenadier who saw the contest ran to the as- 
sistance of his officer, made a lunge with his bayonet, 
missed Joiett's body, but drove the weapon beyond the 
curve into his coat. 

" In attempting to withdraw the entangled bayonet, 
he threw both combatants to the ground ; when getting 
it free, he raised it deliberately, determined not to fail 
again in his purpose, but to transfix Joiett. It was at 
this moment that Manning approached, — not near 



LEE'S LEGION 147 

enough, however, to reach the grenadier with his 
arm. 

" In order to gain time, and to arrest the stroke, he 
exclaimed in an angry and authoritative tone, 'You 
brute, will you murder the gentleman ? ' The soldier, 
supposing J^imself addressed by one of his own officers, 
suspended the blow, and looked around to see the 
person who had thus spoken to him. 

" Before he could recover from the surprise into 
which he had been thrown, Manning, now sufficiently 
near, struck him with his sword across the eyes, and 
felled him to the ground ; while Joiett disengaged him- 
self from his opponent, and snatching up the musket, 
as he attempted to rise, laid him dead by a blow from 
the butt-end of it. 

" Manning was of inferior size, but strong, and re- 
markably well formed. Joiett was almost a giant. 
This probably led Barry, who could not have wished 
the particulars of his capture to be commented on, to 
reply, when asked by his brother officers how he came 
to be taken, ' I was overpowered by a huge Virginian. ' " 

"Manning was a cool and ready soldier," observed 
Pitts. " I saw him once in Philadelphia, before his 
Legion went south. He had a most determined look 
in spite of the good-humored leer of his eye. 



148 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

"He was one of the last men I should have wished 
to provoke: he was a complete Irishman, — blunders 
and all. I heard of his telling a black servant who was 
walking barefoot on the snow, to put on pair of stock- 
ings the next time he went barefoot. 

" Great things were done by the soldiers^as well as 
by the officers, of that Legion," said Kinnison. "At 
the siege of the Stockade Fort at Ninety-Six, Col. Lee, 
who had charge of all the operations of the siege, 
thought that the fort might be destroyed by fire. 

"Accordingly Sergeant Whaling, a non-commissioned 
officer whose term of service was about to expire, with 
twelve privates, was detached to perform the service. 
Whaling saw that he was moving to certain death, as 
the approach to the fort was to be made in open day, 
and over clear, level ground which offered no cover. 

" But he was a brave man, and had served from the 
commencement of the war. It was his greatest pride 
never to shrink from his duty. He dressed himself 
neatly, took an affectionate but cheerful leave of his 
comrades, swung his musket over his shoulder, and, 
with a bundle of blazing pine torches in his hand, 
sprang forward, followed by his little band. 

" They reached the stockade before the enemy fired 
a shot. But a deliberate aim killed Whaling and all 



LEE'S LEGION 149 

his men except one, who escaped unhurt. It was the 
opinion of most of the officers of the Legion, that 
Whaling's life was sacrificed in attempting to carry- 
out a rash idea. But we ought not to judge Col. Lee 
without being more certain of the facts." 

" Still, we know enough to say it was a very wild idea 
to send men up to a fort in open day, and over ground 
where they could have no cover," remarked Ransom. 
" I know Gen. John Stark would never have sacrificed 
his men in that way." 

" Perhaps," said Hand, coming to the rescue of his 
hero, -"a desperate measure was necessary. I have 
heard that at the time, Lord Rawdon was marching 
very rapidly to relieve the garrison, and Col. Lee 
thought that every means should be tried to reduce 
the fort ere the siege was abandoned." 

"Very true," said Kinnison. "As I stated before, 
we should never judge commanders without knowing 
the facts of the case. Never say a man has committed 
a fault, unless it sticks out plain to the eye. 

" Harry Lee was, as a common thing, very sparing of 
the lives of his men, and he never made any military 
movement without very strong reasons, as Gen. Greene 
himself would have told you. Whaling was a brave 
man and a strict soldier, or he would never have dared 



ISO THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

to approach the fort in such a way. But, as I said 
before, they were all daring men that belonged to Lee's 
Legion. 

" There were two soldiers of the cavalry, named 
Bulkley and Newman, who had been the warmest and 
the closest friends from infancy. They had both joined 
the army at the same time, that is, at the commence- 
ment of the war ; and through the greater part of the 
Southern campaign, they fought side by side, and each 
one strove to lighten the sufferings of the other. 
Brothers could not have been more attached to each 
other. 

" In the fight at Quimby, where Capt. Armstrong 
made a famous dragoon charge upon the Nineteenth 
British regiment, the friends were among the foremost. 
The dragoons had to pass a bridge in which the enemy 
had made a large gap. Capt. Armstrong led the way, 
but not more than a dozen men followed to support him. 

11 At the head of this little band, Armstrong cut his 
way through the entire British regiment. But then a 
well-aimed fire brought down several of the dragoons. 
Bulkley and Newman were mortally wounded at the 
same fire, and fell, locked in each other's arms." 

"A kind of Damon and Pythias friendship," observed 
Hand. 



LEE'S LEGION 151 

"Yes, I believe they would have died for each 
other," replied Kinnison. " A friend told me that they 
were never separated, in camp or field. If one was 
sick, the other watched by his side. 

" I had a comrade of the same kind during the greater 
part of my life : his name was Williams, and he was 
one of the best-hearted men I ever knew. We fought 
through the Revolution together, and both entered the 
army in 18 12. But I lost him during the attack on 
Fort Erie. Poor Williams was killed by a shell. 

" It has been a long while since then, but I still feel 
as if I had lost a part of my heart when he fell. Poor 
Williams ! " and Kinnison appeared to be busy with 
the mournful recollections of the " friends of his better 
days." 

"My favorite leader was Mad Anthony Wayne," 
said Colson. " A better soldier, or a more wide-awake 
general, was not to be found in the army during the 
Revolution." 

" I know Gen. Wayne was a brave soldier. Did any 
of you ever hear or read an account of the night-attack 
on Gen. Wayne, near Savannah, just before the close 
of the war?" inquired Davenport. 



THE ATTACK ON GEN. WAYNE 

" One of Parker's Light Infantry told me all about 
it," said Colson. "He says that Gen. Wayne, with 
eight hundred men, — infantry, artillery, and dragoons, 
— were encamped at Gibbons's Plantation, about five 
miles from Savannah, where the British were posted. 

" It was the early part of February. Gen. Wayne 
had no idea that an enemy was nearer than Savannah. 
But the brave Creeks had been taken into the pay of 
the British ; and their chief, Gurestessego, formed a 
plan to surprise the Continentals. 

" Never w r as an attack better planned : our men were 
sleeping w r ith a feeling of security, when, about mid- 
night, the Creeks fell upon the camp. The sentinels 
were captured, and the Indians entered the camp, and 
secured the cannon ; but while they were trying to 
make the cannon serviceable, instead of following up 
their success, Wayne and his men recovered from 
their surprise, and w r ere soon in order for battle. 

"Parker's Infantry charged with the bayonet, and 



THE ATTACK ON GEN. WAYNE 153 

after a short struggle recovered the cannon. Gunn, 
with his dragoons, followed up the charge, and the 
Creeks were forced to give way. Gen. Wayne en- 
countered the chief Gurestessego in hand-to-hand com- 
bat ; the general with sword and pistols, and the chief 
with musket, tomahawk, and knife. 

" The struggle was fierce but short. The chief was 
killed, and Wayne escaped without any serious injury. 
Seventeen of the Creeks fell, and the rest escaped in 
the darkness, leaving their packhorses and a considera- 
ble quantity of peltry in the hands of the victors. 

" Wayne conjectured at once that the Indians would 
not have dared to make an attack without being 
assured of the approach of the British or Tories to 
support them, and a. rumor spread that Col. Browne 
was marching towards the camp for that purpose. In 
the fight, Wayne had captured twelve young warriors, 
whom he doomed to death to prevent them joining the 
enemy. 

"This was a rash act. The rumor of Browne's 
approach was false, but the young warriors had been 
sacrificed before this was known. Gen. Wayne felt 
many a pang for this rash command, as he was a man 
who never would shed blood without it was necessary 
in the performance of his duty." 



154 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Why didn't he send the Indians to Greene's camp, 
or some other American post ? " inquired Hand. 

" There was no time or men to spare if the rumor 
had been true," said Colson. " Most commanders 
would have acted as Wayne did, under the circum- 
stances. Though I think the execution of the order 
might have been delayed until the enemy came in 
sight." 

" The general, no doubt, had good reason for his 
course," said Kinnison. " He believed it to be his 
duty to do every thing for the safety of the men he 
commanded ; and, expecting to be assailed by a much 
larger force than his own, he did right to destroy the 
foes he had in camp. 

"I know it must have shocked his feelings to give 
the order, but he was a man who couldn't shrink or be 
driven from the plain line of duty. Now, there was 
that affair with the Pennsylvania Line at Morristown. 

" I've heard several men who were at Morristown at 
the time, say that Wayne was wrong in daring to 
oppose the mutineers ; that their demands were just 
and reasonable, and he ought rather to have led than 
opposed them." 

" Can't you give us an account of that mutiny at 
Morristown ?" inquired Hand. 



THE MUTINY AT MORRISTOWN 

"I can tell you what was told me by men who 
engaged in it," said Kinnison. "For myself, I was at 
that time with the Massachusetts troops at Middle- 
brook. The Pennsylvania Line, numbering about two 
thousand men, was stationed at the old camp-ground at 
Morristown. 

" Most of these men believed that their term of ser- 
vice expired at the end of the year 1779 J though Con- 
gress and some of the generals thought otherwise, or 
that the men were enlisted to serve until the end of 
the war. 

"This difficulty about the term of enlistment was 
the seed of the mutiny. But there were many other 
things that would have roused any other men to re- 
volt. The Pennsylvanians had not received any pay 
for twelve months, and during the severest part of the 
fall they suffered for the want of food and clothing. 

" To expect men to bear such treatment, and remain 
in the army when there was the slightest pretext for 

*55 



I$6 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

leaving it, was building on a sandy foundation. Patri- 
otism and starvation were not so agreeable to common 
soldiers as they were to some members of Congress. 

"Even some of the officers — men who depended 
upon their pay to support their families while fighting 
for liberty — grumbled at the conduct of those who 
should have supplied them. 

"This gave the men courage, and they determined 
to act boldly. They appointed a sergeant-major their 
major-general ; and at a given signal on the morning 
of the ist of January, the whole line, except a part of 
three regiments, paraded under arms and without their 
regular officers, marched to the magazines, supplied 
themselves with provisions and ammunition, and 
secured six field-pieces, to which they attached horses 
from Gen. Wayne's stables. 

"The regular officers collected those who had not 
joined the mutineers, and tried to restore order; but 
some of the mutineers fired, killed Capt. Billings, and, 
I believe, wounded several of his men. They then 
ordered those who remained with the officers to join 
them, or meet death by the bayonet, and they obeyed. 

"Then Gen. Wayne appeared, and, by threats and 
offers of better treatment, endeavored to put an end to 
the revolt. The men all idolized Wayne : they would 



THE MUTINY AT MORRISTOWN 157 

have followed him almost anywhere ; but they would 
not listen to his remonstrances on this occasion. 

" Wayne then cocked his pistol as if he meant to 
frighten them back to duty ; but they placed their bay- 
onets to his breast, and told him that, although they 
loved and respected him, if he fired his pistols, or 
attempted to enforce his commands, they would put 
him to death. 

" Gen. Wayne then saw their determination, and did 
not fire, but he appealed to their patriotism ; and they 
spoke of the impositions of Congress. He told them 
that their conduct would strengthen the enemy. But 
ragged clothes and skeleton forms were arguments 
much stronger than any Wayne could bring against 
them. The men declared their intention to march to 
Congress at Philadelphia, and demand a redress of 
grievances. 

" Wayne then changed his policy, and resolved to 
go with the current and guide it. He supplied the 
men with provisions to prevent them from committing 
depredations on the people of the country, and marched 
with them -to Princeton, where a committee of ser- 
geants drew up a list of demands. 

"They wanted those men to be discharged whose 
term of service had expired, and the whole Line to 



158 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

receive their pay and clothing. Gen. Wayne had no 
power to agree to these demands, and he referred 
further negotiation to the Government of Pennsylvania, 
and a committee to be appointed by Congress. 

"But the cream of the matter is to come. The news 
of the revolt reached Gen. Washington and Sir Henrv 

O J 

Clinton on the same day. Washington ordered a 
thousand men to be ready to march from the High- 
lands of the Hudson to quell the revolt, and called a 
council of war to decide on further measures. 

" This council sanctioned Gen. Wayne's course, and 
decided to leave the matter to the settlement of the 
Government of Pennsylvania and Congress. You see, 
Gen. Washington had long been worried by the sleepy 
way Congress did business, and he thought this affair 
would wake them up to go to work in earnest. 

"The British commander-in-chief thought he could 
gain great advantage by the revolt, and so he very 
promptly sent two emissaries, — one a British sergeant, 
and the other a Tory named Ogden, — to the muti- 
neers, offering them pardon for past offences, full pay 
for their past service, and the protection of the British 
Government, if they would lay down their arms, and 
march to New York. 

" So certain was Clinton that his offers would be 



THE" MUTINY AT MORRISTOWN 1 59 

accepted, that he crossed over to Staten Island with 
a large body of troops, to act as circumstances might 
require. But he was as ignorant of the character of 
our men as King George himself. They wanted to be 
fed and clothed, and wanted their families provided 
for ; but they were not soldiers fighting merely for pay. 

" Every man of them knew what freedom was, and 
had taken the field to secure it for his country. You 
may judge how such men received Clinton's proposals. 
They said they w r ere not Arnolds, and that America 
had no truer friends than themselves ; and then seized 
the emissaries and their papers, and handed them over 
to Wayne, and the mercy of a court-martial. 

" The men were tried as spies, found guilty, and 
executed. A reward which had been offered for their 
apprehension was tendered to the mutineers who had 
seized them. But they refused it. One of them said 
that necessity had wrung from them the act demand- 
ing justice from Congress, but they wanted no reward 
for doing their duty to their bleeding country. 

" Congress appointed a commissioner to meet the 
mutineers at Princeton, and soon after their demands 
were satisfied. A large part of the Line was disbanded 
for the winter, and the remainder was well supplied 
with provisions and clothing. About the middle of 



160 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

January, the greater part of the New Jersey Line, 
which was encamped near Pompton, followed the 
example of the Pennsylvanians, and revolted ; but 
different measures were taken to quell them. Gen. 
Washington ordered Gen. Robert Howe to march 
with five hundred men, and reduce the rebels to 
submission. 

" Howe marched four days through a deep snow, 
and reached the encampment of the Jersey troops on 
the 27th of January. His men were paraded in line, 
and he then ordered the mutineers to appear unarmed 
in front of their huts, within five minutes. They 
hesitated, but on a second order they obeyed. 

" Three of the chief movers in the revolt were 
tried, and sentenced to be shot. Two of them suf- 
fered, and the third was pardoned as being less to 
blame. The two who were shot fell by the hands 
of twelve of the most guilty of the mutineers. That, 
I think, was a very severe punishment. 

" Gen. Howe then addressed them by platoons, and 
ordered their officers to resume their commands. 
Clinton had again sent an emissary to make offers to 
the mutineers ; but the man heard of the fate of the 
Tory and the British sergeant, and he took his papers 
to Gen. Howe instead of to the men. 



THE MUTINY AT MORRISTOWN l6l 

"These Jersey mutineers were reduced to submis- 
sion without much difficulty. But the Pennsylvanians 
displayed a determination to fight if their demands 
were not satisfied, and so they gained their point/' 

" Perhaps," said Hand, "the Jersey troops had not 
so much reason to revolt as the Pennsylvanians." 

"I know they had not so much reason," replied 
Kinnison. "They had suffered as much for want of 
food and clothing, but their term of service was more 
certainly known." 

" How nobly the men treated the offers of Sir Henry 
Clinton!" said Hand. "I should think the British 
Government might have learned from that affair, the 
spirit of the Americans, and the futility of efforts to 
conquer men with such motives and sentiments." 

" They might have learned it if they had wished to 
learn," explained Pitts. "They might have learned the 
same thing from the Boston Tea-Party. But they 
determined that they had a right to act towards us 
just as they pleased, and their pride was blind to 
consequences." 

" One may look through Greek and Roman history 
in vain, to find men holding such noble and patriotic 
sentiments, while harassed with want of every kind," 
continued Hand, growing eloquent. 



1 62 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

"Ah! those were times to try the metal men were 
made of," said Colson. "The men who took up the 
sword and gun for freedom were resolved to win their 
country's safety, or die in the attempt ; and such men 
will not be bought at any price. Arnold was a mere 
soldier — never a patriot/' 

" I might dispute that last statement," replied Daven- 
port, "but I'll let it go." 

"Come, Brown, more music," exclaimed Warner. 
"The dinner and the dull conversation make some of 
us drowsy. Stir us up, man ! " 

"There's nothing like the fife and drum for rousing 
men. I hate these finnicking, soft, and love-sick in- 
struments, such as pianos, guitars, and some others 
they play on nowadays. There is no manliness about 
them." 

Brown and Hanson, having produced their old mar- 
tial instruments, then struck up " The Star-spangled 
Banner," the best of the national anthems of America. 
Soon after the last note of the fife had ended, Hand, 
without invitation, struck up the anthem itself, and 
sang the words with great force, the whole company 
joining in the two last lines of every stanza. 

The music and the anthem thoroughly roused the 
old as well as the young members of the company, and 



THE MUTINY AT MORRISTOWX 163 

at its conclusion three cheers were lustily given for 
the stars and stripes. One of the young men then 
said that he had a song to sing, which would be new to 
the company, but still was not an original composition. 
The music was stirring and appropriate. The words 
were as follows : — 

" Freemen ! arise, and keep your vow ! 
The foe are on our shore ; 
And we must win our freedom now, 
Or yield forevermore. 

" The share will make a goodly glaive — 
Then tear it from the plough ! 
Lingers there here a crouching slave? 
Depart, a recreant thou ! 

"Depart, and leave the field to those 
Determined to be free, 
Who burn to meet their vaunting foes 
And strike for liberty. 

" Why did the Pilgrim cross the wave ? 
Say, was he not your sire ? 
And shall the liberty he gave 
Upon his grave expire? 

" The stormy wave could not appall, 
Nor where the savage trod; 
He braved them all, and conquered all, 
For freedom and for God. 



164 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" We fight for fireside and for home, 
For heritage, for altar; 
And, by the God of yon blue dome, 
Not one of us shall falter ! 

" We'll guard them, though the foemen stood 
Like sand-grains on our shore, 
And raise our angry battle-flood, 
And whelm the despots o'er. 

"We've drawn the sword, and shrined the sheath 
Upon our fathers' tomb; 
And when the foe shall sleep in death, 
We'll sheathe it o'er their doom. 

" Firm be your step, steady your file, 
Unbroken your array; 
The spirits of the blest shall smile 
Upon our deeds to-day. 

" Unfurl the banner of the free 
Amidst the battle's cloud; 
Its folds shall wave to Liberty, 
Or be to us a shroud. 

" O'er those who fall, a soldier's tear 
Exulting shall be shed ; 
We'll bear them upon honors bier, 
To sleep in honor's bed. 



THE MUTINY AT MORRISTOWN 165 

"The maiden, with her hurried breath 
And rapture-beaming eye, 
Shall all forget the field of death 
To bless the victory. 

" The child, oh ! he will bless his sire, 
The mother bless her son ; 
And God, He will not frown in ire, 
When such a field is won." 

"Good!" exclaimed Kinnison, when the song was 
done. " That is a war-song of 'j6, I know." 

"It is," replied the singer; "and, judging from what 
I have heard you say,^ it expresses in it the feeling 
of the period." 

"A truce to songs and music," cried Davenport. 
" I never was fond of any kind of music but that of 
the fife and drum, and I never needed that to put 
me in a condition to stand fire." 

"You are too gloomy," said Kinnison. 

" I have had cause enough for gloominess," replied 
Davenport. 

"But I wanted to talk to you about something — 
and that was my reason for checking you. You talk 
so much about the treason of Arnold, and say that he 
never was a patriot, that I wanted to tell you of 



1 66 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

another man's treason ; not to excuse Arnold, but to 
show you that he wasn't alone in preferring the 
British side of the question, and that there were bolder 
patriots than Paulding, Williams, and Van Wert, the 
captors of Andre." 

" We know there were plenty of traitors and 
patriots in the country, without a showing," said 
Kinnison ; "but go on with your narrative." 

" But this will prove that all censure should not be 
heaped upon Arnold's head, nor all the praise on the 
militia-men of Tarrytown," observed Davenport. 



THE TREASON OF BETTYS 

"When the Revolutionary War broke out," said 
Davenport, beginning his narrative, " there was a man 
named Joseph Bettys, who lived in Ballston, N.Y., 
remarkable for his courage, strength, and intelligence. 
Col. Ball of the Continental forces saw that Bettys 
might be of great service to our cause, and succeeded 
in enlisting him as a sergeant. 

" But he was soon afterwards reduced to the ranks, 
on account of his insolence to an officer, who, he said, 
had abused him without cause. Col. Ball was not 
acquainted with the facts of the affair, but being 
unwilling to lose so active and courageous a man, he 
procured him the rank of a sergeant in the fleet 
commanded by Gen. Arnold, on Lake Champlain. 

" Bettys was as skilful a seaman as could be found 
in the service, and during the desperate fight between 
the fleets, which occurred in the latter part of 1776, 
he rendered more service than any other man except 

Arnold himself. 

167 



168 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" He fought until every commissioned officer on 
board of his vessel was either killed or wounded, then 
took command himself, and fought with such reck- 
less and desperate spirit, that Gen. Waterbury, seeing 
the vessel was about to sink, ordered Bettys and the 
remnant of his crew to come on board his vessel. 

" Waterbury then stationed Bettys on his quarter- 
deck, and gave orders through him until his vessel 
was crippled, and the crew mostly killed or wounded, 
when the colors were struck to the enemy. After 
that action, Bettys went to Canada, and, turning- 
traitor, received an ensign's commission in the British 
army. 

" He then became a spy, and one of the most subtle 
enemies of our cause. But our men were wide awake. 
Bettys was arrested, tried, and condemned to be hung 
at West Point. His old parents and many influential 
Whigs entreated that he should be pardoned, promis- 
ing that he would mend his life. 

" Gen. Washington, you know, never took life where 
it could be spared, and so he granted the pardon. 
But it was generosity thrown away ; Bettys hated the 
Americans the more because they had it in their 
power to pardon him, and resolved to make them feel 
he could not be humbled and led in that way. 



I rf II II I 



BiHIDIiRI 



I'HH i I ill 




SEIZURE OF JOSEPH BETTYS 



THE TREASON OF BETTYS 1 69 

" The Whigs regretted the mercy that had spared 
the traitor. Bettys recruited soldiers for the enemy 
in the very heart of the country ; captured and carried 
off the most zealous patriots, and subjected them to 
great suffering. 

"Those against whom he had the most hatred had 
their houses burned, and often lost their lives. The 
British commander paid him well, for he was one of 
the best spies, and most faithful messenger, that could 
be found. His courage and determination overcame 
every obstacle, and encountered every danger that 
would have appalled weaker men. 

"He proclaimed himself to be a man who carried his 
life in his hand, and was as reckless of it as he would 
be of that of any who should attempt to catch him. It 
was well understood that Bettys meant precisely what 
he said, and that he always had a band of refugees 
ready to support him in any rascality he might conceive. 

"Still, there were some bold men, who had suffered 
from Bettys' depredations, and who determined to 
catch him at every hazard. Many attempts were 
made ; but he eluded his pursuers by his stratagems, 
and knowledge of the country, until early in January, 
1782, when he was seen in the neighborhood of Balls- 
ton, armed, and with snow-shoes on. 



170 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Three men, named Cory, Fulmer, and Perkins, 
armed themselves and proceeded in pursuit. They 
traced Bettys by a roundabout track to the house of a 
well-known Tory. 

"They consulted a few minutes, and one of them 
reconnoitred to see the exact position of Bettys. The 
traitor was at his meal, with his pistols lying on the 
table and his rifle resting on his arm, prepared for an 
attack though not suspecting foes were near. 

" The three men by a sudden effort burst open the 
door, rushed upon Bettys, and seized him in such a 
manner that he could make no resistance. He was 
then pinioned so firmly that to escape was impossible ; 
and so the desperado, in spite of all his threats, was a 
tame and quiet prisoner, and no one hurt in taking him. 

" Bettys then asked leave to smoke, which was 
granted ; and he took out his tobacco, with something 
else which he threw into the fire. Cory saw this move- 
ment, and snatched it out, with a handful of coals. 

"It was a small leaden box, about an eighth of an 
inch in thickness, containing a paper, written in cipher, 
which the men could not read. It was afterwards 
found to be a despatch to the British commander at 
New York, with an order upon the mayor of that city 
for thirty pounds if the despatch was safely delivered. 



THE TREASON OF BETTYS 171 

" Bettys knew that this paper alone would be evi- 
dence enough to hang him, and he offered the men 
gold to let him burn it. But they refused his highest 
offers. He had a considerable quantity of gold about 
him, and he offered them not only that, but much more 
if they would allow him to escape ; but their patriotism 
could stand gold as well as the gold could stand fire. 

" They took Bettys to Albany, where he was tried as 
a spy, and hung. The only reward that the three men 
ever received was the rifle and pistols of Bettys. The 
men who captured Andre were patriotic enough, but 
their work was easy compared with that of Cory, Ful- 
mer, and Perkins. Yet the names of these heroes are 
scarcely ever mentioned, and the story of their daring 
exploit is not generally known." 

" Did this affair happen before that of Andre ? " 
inquired Hand. " If not, these men only imitated the 
noble example of Paulding, Williams, and Van Wert." 

"It occurred after the capture of Andre," replied 
Davenport. " But that takes nothing from the danger 
of the attempt, or the amount of the temptation re- 
sisted." 

"That is true," replied Hand; "but the capture of 
Andre, and the favor with which our countrymen re- 
garded his captors, may have stimulated many to patri- 



172 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

otic exertions, and thereby have made such deeds so 
common as not to receive special notice. I have no 
doubt the researches of historians will yet bring to 
light many such deeds." 

" How the conduct of such men as Arnold and 
Bettys contrasts with that of Samuel Adams and his 
fellow patriots ! " remarked Warner. " When the first 
resistance was made to quartering the British troops in 
Boston, Samuel Adams was the leader and mouthpiece 
of the patriots, and the royal rulers of Massachusetts 
tried every way to induce him to abandon the cause he 
had espoused. 

" In the first place, they threatened him with severe 
punishment. But they couldn't scare him from his 
chosen course. Then they flattered and caressed him, 
but it was of no effect. At last Gov. Gage resolved 
to try whether bribes wouldn't work a change. 

" So he sent Col. Fenton to him, as a confidential 
messenger. The colonel visited Adams, and stated 
his business at length, concluding with a representa- 
tion that, by complying, Adams would make his peace 
with the king. The stern patriot heard him through, 
and then asked him if he would deliver his reply to 
Gov. Gage as it should be given. The colonel said he 
would. 



THE TREASON OF BETTYS 1 73 

"Then Adams assumed a determined manner, and 
replied, ' I trust I have long since made my peace with 
the King of kings. No personal consideration shall 
induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my coun- 
try. Tell Gov. Gage it is the advice of Samuel Adams 
to him, no longer to insult the feelings of an exasper- 
ated people.' There was the highest pitch of patriotic 
resolution." 

"Ay, Samuel Adams was whole-souled and high- 
souled," said Davenport. " Xo one will dispute that, 
who knows any thing of his history." 

" New England had a host of patriots at the same 
period," observed Kinnison. " Many of them did not 
possess the talents and energy of Samuel Adams, but 
the heart was all right." 



THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 

"Well, gentlemen," said Mr. Hand, "there is a 
most important matter, which you have omitted. You 
have told us nothing of Bunker Hill's memorable fight, 
in which, as Bostonians and friends of liberty, we feel 
the deepest interest. Which of you can oblige us by 
giving us your recollections of our first great struggle?" 

"Mr. Warner was one of Col. Stark's men. He can 
tell you all about it," spoke up Colson. 

"Ay, if memory serves me," returned Warner, "I 
can tell you much of that day's struggle. I joined Col. 
Stark's regiment shortly before the battle. I always 
admired Stark, and preferred to serve under him. I 
suppose you are acquainted with the general featufes of 
the battle, and therefore I will not detain you long 
with reciting them. 

"On the 1 6th of June, 1775, it was determined that 
a fortified post should be established at or near Bunker 
Hill. 

"A detachment of the army was ordered to advance 
174 



THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 1 75 

early in the evening of that day, and commence the 
erection of a strong work on the heights in the rear of 
Charlestown, at that time called Breed's Hill ; but, from 
its proximity to Bunker Hill, the battle has taken its 
name from the latter eminence, which overlooks it. 

" The work was commenced and carried on under 
the direction of such engineers as we were able to pro- 
cure at that time. It was a square redoubt, the curtains 
of which were about sixty or seventy feet in extent, with 
an intrenchment, or breastwork, extending fifty or sixty 
feet from the northern angle, towards Mystic River. 

" In the course of the night, the ramparts had been 
raised to the height of six or seven feet, with a small 
ditch at their base ; but it was yet in a rude and very 
imperfect state. 

" Being in full view from the northern heights of 
Boston, it was discovered by the enemy, as soon as 
daylight appeared; and a determination was imme- 
diately formed by Gen. Gage, for dislodging our troops 
from this new and alarming position. Arrangements 
were promptly made for effecting this important object. 

"The movements of the British troops, indicating an 
attack, were soon discovered ; in consequence of which 
orders were immediately issued for the march of a con- 
siderable part of our army to re-enforce the detachment 



176 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

at the redoubts on Breed's Hill ; but such was the 
imperfect state of discipline, the want of knowledge in 
military science, and the deficiency of the materials of 
war, that the movement of the troops was extremely 
irregular and devoid of every thing like concert, — each 
regiment advancing according to the opinions, feelings, 
or caprice of its commander. 

" Col. Stark's regiment was quartered in Medford, 
distant about four miles from the point of anticipated 
attack. It then consisted of thirteen companies, and 
was probably the largest regiment in the army. About 
ten o'clock in the morning, he received orders to march. 
The regiment being destitute of ammunition, it was 
formed in front of a house occupied as an arsenal, 
where each man received a gill-cup full of powder, 
fifteen balls, and one flint. 

"The several captains were then ordered to march 
their companies to their respective quarters, and. make 
up their powder and ball into cartridges, with the 
greatest possible despatch. As there were scarcely 
two muskets in a company of equal calibre, it was 
necessary to reduce the size of the balls for many of 
them ; and as but a small proportion of the men had 
cartridge-boxes, the remainder made use of powder 
horns and ball-pouches. 



THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 177 

" After completing the necessary preparations for 
action, the regiment formed, and marched about one 
o'clock. When it reached Charlestown Neck, we found 
two regiments halted, in consequence of a heavy en- 
filading fire thrown across it, of round, bar, and chain 
shot, from the ' Lively ' frigate, and floating batteries 
anchored in Charles River, and a floating battery lying 
in the River Mystic. Major M 'Clary went forward, and 
observed to the commanders, if they did not intend to 
move on, he wished them to open and let our regiment 
pass : the latter was immediately done. 

" Soon after, the enemy were discovered to have 
landed on the shore of Morton's Point, in front of 
Breed's Hill, under cover of a tremendous fire of shot 
and shells from a battery on Copp's Hill, in Boston, 
which had opened on the redoubt at daybreak. 

" Major-Gen. Howe and Brig.-Gen. Pigot were the 
commanders of the British forces which first landed, 
consisting of four battalions of infantry, ten companies 
of grenadiers, and ten of light infantry, with a train of 
field-artillery. They formed as they disembarked, but 
remained in that position until they were re-enforced 
by another detachment. 

"At this moment the veteran and gallant Col. Stark 
harangued his regiment, in a short but animated ad- 



178 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

dress ; then directed them to give three cheers, and 
make a rapid movement to the rail-fence which ran 
from the left, and about forty yards in the rear of the 
redoubt, towards Mystic River. Part of the grass, hav- 
ing been recently cut, lay in rows and heaps on the 
field. 

"Another fence was taken up, the rails run through 
the one in front, and the hay, mown in the vicinity, 
suspended upon them, from the bottom to the top, 
which had the appearance of a breastwork, but was, 
in fact, no real cover to the men : it, however, served 
as a deception on the enemy. This was done by the 
direction of the * Committee of Safety,' as I afterwards 
heard. That committee exerted itself nobly. 

"At the moment our regiment was formed in the 
rear of the rail fence, with one other small regiment 
from Xew Hampshire, under the command of Col. 
Reid, the fire commenced between the left wing of 
the British army, commanded by Gen. Howe, and the 
troops in the redoubt, under Col. Prescott ; while a 
column of the enemy was advancing on our left, on 
the shore of Mystic River, with an evident intention 
of turning our left wing, and that veteran and most 
excellent regiment of Welsh Fusileers, so distinguished 
for its gallant conduct in the battle of Minden, 



THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 179 

advanced in column directly on the rail fence ; when 
within eighty or an hundred yards, deployed into line, 
with the precision and firmness of troops on parade, 
and opened a brisk but regular fire by platoons, which 
was returned by a well-directed, rapid, and fatal dis- 
charge from our whole line. 

"The action soon became general, and very heavy 

from right to left. In the course of ten or fifteen 

minutes, the enemy gave way at all points, and 

retreated in great disorder, leaving a large number of 

% dead and wounded on the field. 

" The firing ceased for a short time, until the 
enemy again formed, advanced, and recommenced a 
spirited fire from his whole line. Several attempts 
were again made to turn our left ; but the troops 
having thrown up a slight stone wall on the bank of 
the river and lying down behind it, gave such a deadly 
fire, as cut down almost every man of the party op- 
posed to them ; while the fire from the redoubt and 
rail fence was so well directed and so fatal, especially 
to the British officers, that the whole army was com- 
pelled a second time to retreat with precipitation and 
great confusion. 

"At this time the ground occupied by the enemy 
was covered with his dead and wounded. Only a few 



180 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

small detached parties again advanced, which kept up 
a distant, ineffectual, scattering fire, until a strong 
re-enforcement arrived from Boston, which advanced 
on the southern declivity of the hill, in the rear of 
Charlestown. 

" When this column arrived opposite that angle 
of the redoubt which faced Charlestown, it wheeled 
by platoons to the right, and advanced directly upon 
the redoubt without firing a gun. By this time our 
ammunition was exhausted. A few men only had a 
charge left. 

"The advancing column made an attempt to carry 
the redoubt by assault ; but at the first onset every 
man that mounted the parapet was cut down by the 
troops within, who had formed on the opposite side, 
not being prepared with bayonets to meet the charge. 

" The column wavered for a moment, but soon 
formed again ; when a forward movement was made 
with such spirit and intrepidity as to render the 
feeble efforts of a handful of men, without the means 
of defence, unavailing ; and they fled through an open 
space, in the rear of the redoubt, which had been 
left for a gateway. 

"At this moment the rear of the British column 
advanced round the angle of the redoubt, and threw 






THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL l8l 

in a galling flank-fire upon our troops, as they rushed 
from it, which killed and wounded a greater number 
than had fallen before during the action. 

"The whole of our line immediately after gave 
away, and*retreated with rapidity and disorder towards 
Bunker Hill ; carrying off as many of the wounded 
as possible, so that only thirty-six or thirty-seven 
fell into the hands of the enemy, among whom were 
Lieut. -Col. Parker and two or three other officers, 
who fell in or near the redoubt. 

" The whole of the troops now descended the north- 
western declivity of Bunker Hill, and recrossed the 
Neck. Those of the New Hampshire Line retired 
towards Winter Hill, and the others on to Prospect 
Hill. 

" Some slight works were thrown up in the course 
of the evening ; strong advance pickets were posted 
on the roads leading to Charlestown, and the troops, 
anticipating an attack, rested on their arms. 

" It is a most extraordinary fact, that the British 
did not make a single charge during the battle, which, 
if attempted, would have been decisive, and fatal to 
the Americans, as they did not carry into the field 
fifty bayonets. In my company there w r as not one. 

" Soon after the commencement of the action, a 



1 82 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

detachment from the British forces in Boston was 
landed in Charlestown, and within a few moments the 
whole town appeared in a blaze. A dense column of 
smoke rose to a great height, and, there being a gentle 
breeze from the south-west, it hung like a thunder- 
cloud over the contending armies. A very few houses 
escaped the dreadful conflagration of this devoted 
town," 



EXPLOITS OF PETER FRANCISCO 

11 1 say, men, the story of Bunker Hill is old 
enough, and the events of that day have caused enough 
dispute already. We know that we taught the red- 
coats a good, round lesson, and we shouldn't fight 
about particulars. Young men, I will tell you a true 
story about a real hero," said Pitts. 

" Who was he ? " inquired Hand. 

" His name was Peter Francisco, and he was a 
trooper in our army," replied Pitts. " Now I'll tell 
you what he did. 

" While the British troops were spreading havoc 
and desolation all around them, by their plundering 
and burnings in Virginia, in 1781, Peter Francisco 
had been reconnoitring ; and whilst stopping at the 
house of a Mr. Wand, in Amelia County, nine of 
Tarleton's cavalry, coming up with three negroes, told 
him he was a prisoner. 

" Seeing himself overpowered by numbers, he made 
no resistance ; and, believing him to be very peaceable, 
they all went into the house, leaving the paymaster 
and Francisco together. The paymaster demanded 

183 



184 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

his watch, money, etc., which being delivered to him, 
in order to secure his plunder, he put his sword under 
his arm, with the hilt behind him. 

" While in the act of putting a silver buckle into his 
pocket, Francisco, finding so favorable an opportunity 
to recover his liberty, stepped one pace in his rear, 
drew the sword with force under his arm, and instantly 
gave him a blow across the skull. 

"His enemy was brave, and though severely wounded, 
drew a pistol ; and, in the same moment that he pulled 
the trigger, Francisco cut his hand nearly off. The 
bullet grazed his side. 

" Ben Wand (the man of the house) very ungener- 
ously brought out a musket, and gave it to one of the 
British soldiers, and told him to make use of that. He 
mounted the only horse they could get, and presented 
it at his breast. It missed fire. 

"Francisco rushed on the muzzle of the gun. A 
short struggle ensued, in which the British soldier was 
disarmed and wounded. Tarleton's troop of four hun- 
dred men were in sight. All was hurry and confusion, 
which Francisco increased by repeatedly hallooing, as 
loud as he could, 'Come on, my brave boys ! now's your 
time ! we will soon despatch these few, and then attack 
the main body ! ' 



EXPLOITS OF PETER FRANCISCO 185 

11 The wounded man flew to the troop ; the others 
were panic-struck, and fled. Francisco seized Wand, 
and would have despatched him, but the poor wretch 
begged for his life : he was not only an object of 
contempt, but pity. The eight horses that were left 
behind, he gave him to conceal. 

" Discovering Tarleton had despatched ten more in 
pursuit of him, Francisco then made off, and evaded 
their vigilance. They stopped to refresh themselves, 
and he, like an old fox, doubled, and fell on their rear. 

" He went the next day to Wand for his horses : 
Wand demanded two for his trouble, and generous 
intentions. Finding his situation dangerous, and sur- 
rounded by enemies where he ought to have found 
friends, Francisco went off with his six horses. He 
intended to have avenged himself on Wand at a future 
day ; but Providence ordained that Wand should be 
his own executioner, for he broke his neck by a fall 
from one of the very horses. ,, 

" Francisco displayed great courage, daring, and 
presence of mind in that scrape," observed Kinnison. 
" But I have heard of several encounters quite equal 
to it." 

"Yes, Francisco displayed great presence of mind, 
and that's the most valuable quality of a soldier : it 



1 86 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

will save him when courage and strength are palsied. 
Francisco performed many singular exploits down 
South, and had a high reputation. He had much of 
the hero in his nature, and it seemed as if dangerous 
adventures agreed with him better than easy success. 

" He fought bravely in several battles, and was known 
to many of the enemy as a man to be shunned. There 
wasn't a man among the redcoats stout-hearted and 
strong-limbed enough to dare to meet him. But you 
said you had heard of several encounters equal to the 
one I just narrated," said Pitts. 

"I did," replied Kinnison. " Have you ever seen a 
painting of the fight between Col. Allan M'Lean and 
some British troops ? It used to be a common thing in 
Boston." 

"I have seen the picture," said Hand, "and I should 
like to hear the story of the affair. It must have been 
a desperate fight." 

"It was," replied Kinnison. " A man who was inti- 
mately acquainted with M'Lean, and heard the account 
from his own lips, told me of it. You may boast of 
Francisco's exploits, but here was a man who united 
the most daring courage and strength with a very 
intelligent and quick-working mind." 



THE EXPLOIT OF COL. ALLAN M'LEAN 

" While the British occupied Philadelphia/' said 
Kinnison, "Col. M'Lean was constantly scouring the 
upper end of Bucks and Montgomery Counties, to cut 
off scouting-parties of the enemy, and intercept their 
supplies of provisions. 

"Having agreed, for some purpose, to rendezvous 
near Shoemakertown, Col. M'Lean ordered his little 
band of troopers to follow at some distance, and com- 
manded two of them to precede the main body, but 
also to keep in his rear ; and, if they discovered an 
enemy, to ride up to his side and inform him of it, 
without speaking aloud. 

" While leisurely approaching the place of rendezvous 
in this order, in the early gray of the morning, the two 
men directly in his rear, forgetting their orders, sud- 
denly called out, ' Colonel, the British ! ' faced about, 
and, putting spurs to their horses, were soon out of 
sight. 

" The colonel, looking around, discovered that he was 

187 



188 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

in the centre of a powerful ambuscade, into which the 
enemy had silently allowed him to pass, without his 
observing them. They lined both sides of the road, 
and had been stationed there to pick up any straggling 
party of the Americans that might chance to pass. 

" Immediately on finding they were discovered, a file 
of soldiers rose from the side of the highway and fired 
at the colonel, but without effect ; and as he put spurs 
to his horse, and mounted the roadside into the woods, 
the other part of the detachment also fired. 

" The colonel miraculously escaped ; but a shot strik- 
ing his horse upon the flank, he dashed through the 
woods, and in a few minutes reached a parallel road 
upon the opposite side of the forest. 

" Being familiar with the country, he feared to turn 
to the left, as that course led to the city, and he might 
be intercepted by another ambuscade. Turning, there- 
fore, to the right, his frightened horse carried him 
swiftly beyond the reach of those who had fired upon 
him. 

" All at once, however, on emerging from a piece of 
woods, he observed several British troopers stationed 
near the roadside, and, directly in sight ahead, a farm- 
house, around which he observed a whole troop of the 
enemy's cavalry drawn up. He dashed by the troopers 



THE EXPLOIT OF COL. ALLAN M'LEAN 189 

near him without being molested, they believing he 
was on his way to the main body to surrender himself. 

" The farmhouse was situated at the intersection of 
two roads, presenting but a few avenues by which he 
could escape. Nothing daunted by the formidable 
array before him, he galloped up to the cross-roads, on 
reaching which, he spurred his active horse, turned 
suddenly to the right, and was soon fairly out of reach 
of their pistols, though as he turned he heard them call 
loudly to surrender or die ! A dozen were instantly 
in pursuit ; but in a short time they all gave up the 
chase except two. 

"Col. M'Lean's horse, scared by the first wound he 
had ever received, and being a chosen animal, kept 
ahead for several miles, while his two pursuers followed 
with unwearied eagerness. The pursuit at length waxed 
so hot, as the colonel's horse stepped out of a small 
brook which crossed the road, his pursuers entered it 
at the opposite margin. 

" In ascending a little hill, the horses of the three 
were greatly exhausted, so much so that neither could 
be urged faster than a walk. Occasionally, as one of 
the troopers pursued on a little in advance of his com- 
panion, the colonel slackened his pace, anxious to be 
attacked by one of the two ; but no sooner was his 



190 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

willingness discovered, than the other fell back to 
his station. 

"They at length approached so near, that a conver- 
sation took place between them ; the troopers calling 
out, ' Surrender, you rebel, or we'll cut you in pieces ! ' 
Suddenly one of them rode up on the right side of the 
colonel, and, without drawing his sword, laid hold of 
the colonel's collar. 

" The latter, to use his own words, ' had pistols upon 
which he knew he could depend.' Drawing one from 
the holster, he placed it to the heart of his antagonist, 
fired, and tumbled him dead on the ground. 

"Instantly the other came on his left, with his sword 
drawn, and also seized the colonel by the collar of his 
coat. A fierce and deadly struggle here ensued, in the 
course of which Col. M'Lean was desperately w r ounded 
in the back of his left hand, the sword of his antagonist 
cutting asunder the veins and tendons. 

" Seizing a favorable opportunity, he drew his other 
pistol, and, with a steadiness of purpose which appeared 
even in his recital of the incident, placed it directly 
between the eyes of his adversary, pulled the trigger, 
and scattered his brains on every side of the road ! 

" Fearing that others were in pursuit, he abandoned 
his horse in the highway ; and apprehensive, from his 




EXPLOIT OF COLONEL M'LEAN 



THE EXPLOIT OF COL. ALLAN M'LEAN 191 

extreme weakness, that he might die from loss of blood, 
he crawled into an adjacent mill-pond, entirely naked, 
and at length succeeded in stopping the profuse flow of 
blood occasioned by his wound. Soon after, his men 
came to his relief. Now, I think, Mr. Pitts, your hero 
was at least equalled in Col. M'Lean." 

" Yes, it's a difficult and nice matter to say who bears 
away the palm. But I do not believe that Col. M'Lean 
was surpassed/' said Kinnison. " Col. Henry Lee was 
a man of the same mould/' added Colson. 

" Ay, he was ; and that reminds me of an adventure 
of his which displays his courage and resolution," 
replied Kinnison. 



THE ADVENTURE OF MAJOR LEE 

" In the Revolution, a prison was erected at Lan- 
caster, Penn., for those redcoats who fell into our hands. 
The prisoners were confined in barracks, enclosed with 
a stockade, and vigilantly guarded ; but in spite of all 
precautions, they often disappeared in an unaccountable 
manner, and nothing was heard of them until they 
resumed their places in the British army. 

" It was presumed that they were aided by American 
Tories ; but where suspicion should fall, no one could 
conjecture. Gen. Hazen had charge of the post. He 
devised a stratagem for detecting the culprits, and 
selected Capt. Lee, afterwards Major Lee, a distin- 
guished partisan officer, to carry out his plan. 

" It was given out that Lee had left the post on 

furlough. He, however, having disguised himself as a 

British prisoner, was thrown into the prison with the 

others. So complete was the disguise, that even the 

intendant, familiar with him from long daily intercourse, 

did not penetrate it. 
192 



THE ADVENTURE OF MAJOR LEE 193 

"Had his fellow-prisoners detected him, his history 
might have been embraced in the proverb, ' Dead men 
tell no tales.' 

" For many days he remained in this situation, 
making no discoveries whatever. He thought he per- 
ceived at times signs of intelligence between the 
prisoners and an old woman who sold fruit within the 
enclosure. She was known to be deaf and half-witted, 
and was therefore no object of suspicion. 

" It was known that her son had been disgraced 
and punished in the American army ; but she had 
never betrayed any malice en that account, and no 
one dreamed that she could have the power to do 
injury if she possessed the will. Lee watched her 
closely, but saw nothing to confirm his suspicions. 
Her dwelling was about a mile distant, in a wild 
retreat, where she shared her miserable quarters with 
a dog and cat. 

" One dark stormy night in autumn, Lee was lying 
awake at midnight. All at once the door was gently 
opened, and a figure moved silently into the room. 
It was too dark to observe its motions narrowly, but 
he could see that it stooped towards one of the 
sleepers, who immediately rose. Next it approached, 
and touched him on the shoulder. 



194 THE BOSTON' TEA PARTY 

" Lee immediately started up. The figure then 
allowed a slight gleam from a dark lantern to pass 
over his face, and as it did so whispered impatiently, 
' Not the man — but come ! ' It then occurred to 
Lee that it was the opportunity he desired. 

"The unknown whispered to him to keep his place 
till another man was called ; but just at that moment 
something disturbed him, and, making a signal to Lee 
to follow, he moved silently out of the room. They 
found the door of the house unbarred, and a small 
part of the fence removed, where they passed out 
without molestation. 

"The sentry had retired to a shelter where he 
thought he could guard his post without suffering 
from the rain ; but Lee saw his conductors put them- 
selves in preparation to silence him if he should 
happen to address them. Just without the fence 
appeared a stooping figure, wrapped in a red cloak, 
and supporting itself with a large stick, which Lee 
at once perceived could be no other than the old 
fruit-woman. 

" But the most profound silence was observed : a 
man came out from a thicket at a little distance, and 
joined them, and the whole party moved onward by 
the guidance of the old woman. At first they 



THE ADVENTURE OF MAJOR LEE 195 

frequently stopped to listen, but having heard the 
sentinel cry, "All's well!" they seemed re-assured, 
and moved with more confidence than before. 

"They soon came to her cottage. A table was 
spread with some coarse provisions upon it, and a 
large jug, which one of the soldiers was about to 
seize, when the man who conducted them withheld 
him. 'No,' said he, 'we must first proceed to 
business.' 

"The conductor, a middle-aged, harsh-looking man, 
was here about to require all present, before he could 
conduct them farther, to swear upon the Scriptures 
not to make the least attempt at escape, and never 
to reveal the circumstances or agents in the proceed- 
ing, whatever might befall them. 

"But before they had time to take the oath, their 
practised ears detected the sound of the alarm-gun ; 
and the conductor, directing the party to follow him 
in close order, immediately left the house, taking with 
him a dark lantern. 

" Lee's reflections were not now the most agreeable. 
If he were to be compelled to accompany his party 
to the British lines in New York, he would be 
detected, and hanged as a spy ; and he saw that the 
conductor had prepared arms for them, which they 



196 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

were to use in taking the life of any one who should 
attempt to escape. 

"They went on with great despatch, but not without 
difficulty. Lee might now have deserted, in this hurry 
and alarm ; but he had made no discovery, and he 
could not bear to confess that he had not nerve 
enough to carry him through. 

"They went on, and were concealed in a barn the 
whole of the next day. Provisions were brought, and 
low whistles and other signs showed that the owner 
of the barn was in collusion with his secret guests. 
The barn was attached to a small farmhouse. Lee 
was so near the house that he could overhear the 
conversation which was carried on about the door. 

"The morning rose clear; and it was evident from 
the inquiries of horsemen, who occasionally galloped 
up to the door, that the country was alarmed. The 
farmer gave short and surly replies, as if unwilling 
to be taken off from his labor ; but the other inmates 
of the house were eager in their questions ; and, 
from the answers, Lee gathered that the means by 
which he and his companions had escaped were as 
mysterious as ever. 

" The next night, when all was quiet, they resumed 
their march, and explained to Lee, that, as he was 



THE ADVENTURE OF MAJOR LEE 197 

not with them in their conspiracy, and was accidentally 
associated with them in their escape, they should 
take the precaution to keep him before them, just 
behind the guide. He submitted without opposition, 
though the arrangement considerably lessened his 
chances of escape. 

" For several nights they went on in this manner, 
being delivered over to different persons from time to 
time ; and, as Lee could gather from their whispering 
conversations, they were regularly employed on occa- 
sions like the present, and well rewarded by the 
British for their services. 

" Their employment was full of danger; and though 
they seemed like desperate men, he could observe that 
they never remitted their precautions. They were 
concealed days in barns, cellars, cave's made for the 
purpose, and similar retreats ; and one day was passed 
in a tomb, the dimensions of which had been enlarged, 
and the inmates, if there had been any, banished to 
make room for the living. 

" The burying-grounds were a favorite retreat, and 
on more occasions than one they were obliged to resort 
to superstitious alarms to remove intruders upon their 
path. Their success fully justified the experiment ; 
and unpleasantly situated as he was, in the prospect 



198 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

of soon being a ghost himself, he could not avoid 
laughing at the expedition with which old and young 
fled from the fancied apparitions. 

" Though the distance of the Delaware was not 
great, they had now been twelve days on the road ; 
and such was the vigilance and suspicion prevailing 
throughout the country, that they almost despaired of 
effecting their object. The conductor grew impatient ; 
and Lee's companions, at least one of them, became 
ferocious. 

" There was, as we have said, something unpleasant 
to him in the glances of this fellow towards him, which 
became more and more fierce as they went on ; but it 
did not appear whether it was owing to circumstances, 
or actual suspicion. 

" It so happened, that, on the twelfth night, Lee was 
placed in a barn, while the rest of the party sheltered 
themselves in the cellar of a little stone church, where 
they could talk and act with more freedom ; both 
because the solitude of the church was not often dis- 
turbed even on the sabbath, and because even the pro- 
prietors did not know that illegal hands had added a 
cellar to the conveniences of the building. 

" Here they were smoking pipes with great diligence, 
and, at intervals not distant, applying a huge canteen 



THE ADVENTURE OF MAJOR LEE 199 

to their mouths, from which they drank with upturned 
faces expressive of solemn satisfaction. While they 
were thus engaged, the short soldier asked them, in a 
careless way, if they knew whom they had in their 
party. 

" The others started, and took their pipes from their 
mouths to ask him what he meant. ' I mean/ said he, 
'that we are honored with the company of Capt. Lee, 
of the rebel army. The rascal once punished me, and 
I never mistook my man when I had a debt of that 
kind to pay/ 

" The others expressed their disgust at his ferocity, 
saying that if, as he said, their companion was an 
American officer, all they had to do was to watch him 
closely. As he had come among them uninvited, he 
must go with them to New York and take the conse- 
quences ; but meantime it was their interest not to 
seem to suspect him, otherwise he might give an alarm, 
whereas it was evidently his intention to go with them 
till they were ready to embark for New York. 

" The other person persisted in saying that he would 
have his revenge with his own hand ; upon which the 
conductor, drawing a pistol, declared to him that if he 
saw the least attempt to injure Capt. Lee, or any con- 
duct which would lead him to suspect that his disguise 



200 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

was discovered, he would that moment shoot him 
through the head. The soldier put his hand upon his 
knife, with an ominous scowl upon his conductor ; but 
he restrained himself. 

" The next night they went on as usual, but the 
manner of their conductor showed that there was more 
danger than before ; in fact, he explained to the party 
that they were now not far from the Delaware, and 
hoped to reach it before midnight. They occasionally 
heard the report of a musket, which seemed to indicate 
that some movement was going on in the country. 

"When they came to the bank there were no traces 
of a boat on the waters. Their conductor stood still 
for a moment in dismay ; but, recollecting himself, he 
said it was possible it might have been secured lower 
down the stream ; and, forgetting every thing else, he 
directed the larger soldier to accompany him. 

" Giving a pistol to the other, he whispered, ' If the 
rebel officer attempts to betray us, shoot him ; if not, 
you will not, for your own sake, make any noise to 
show where we are/ In the same instant they de- 
parted, and Lee was left alone with the ruffian. 

"He had before suspected that the fellow knew him, 
and now doubts were changed to certainty at once. 
Dark as it was, it seemed as if fire flashed from his 



THE ADVENTURE OF MAJOR LEE 201 

eye, now he felt that revenge was within his power. 
Lee was as brave as any officer in the army ; but he 
was unarmed, and though he was strong, his adversary 
was still more powerful. 

"While he stood, uncertain what to do, the fellow 
seemed enjoying the prospect of revenge, as he looked 
on him with a steady eye. Though the officer stood to 
appearance unmoved, the sweat rolled in heavy drops 
from his brow. 

" Lee soon took his resolution, and sprang upon his 
adversary with the intention of wresting the pistol 
from his hand ; but the other was upon his guard, and 
aimed with such precision, that, had the pistol been 
charged with a bullet, that moment would have been 
his last. 

" But it seemed that the conductor had trusted to 
the sight of his weapons to render them unnecessary, 
and had therefore only loaded them with powder. As 
it was, the shock threw Lee to the ground ; but fortu- 
nately, as the fellow dropped the pistol, it fell where 
Lee reached it ; and as his adversary stooped, and was 
drawing his knife from his bosom, Lee was able to give 
him a stunning blow. 

" He immediately threw himself upon the assassin, 
and a long and bloody struggle began. They were so 



202 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

nearly matched in strength and advantage, that neither 
dared unclinch his hold for the sake of grasping the 
knife. 

"The blood gushed from their mouths, and the com- 
bat would have probably ended in favor of the assassin 
— when steps and voices were heard advancing, and 
they found themselves in the hands of a party of coun- 
trymen, who were armed for the occasion, and were 
scouring the banks of the river. They were forcibly 
torn apart, but so exhausted and breathless that 
neither could make an explanation ; and they submitted 
quietly to their captors. 

"The party of the armed countrymen, though they 
had succeeded in their attempt, and were sufficiently 
triumphant on the occasion, were sorely perplexed how 
to dispose of their prisoners. After some discussion, 
one of them proposed to throw the decision upon the 
wisdom of the nearest magistrate. They accordingly 
proceeded with their prisoners to his mansion, about 
two miles distant, and called upon him to rise and 
attend to business. 

" A window was hastily thrown up, and the Justice 
put forth his night-capped head, and, with more wrath 
than became his dignity, ordered them off. However, 
resistance was vain ; he was compelled to rise ; and as 



THE ADVENTURE OF MAJOR LEE 203 

soon as the prisoners were brought before him, he 
ordered them to be taken in irons to the prison at 
Philadelphia. 

" Lee improved the opportunity to take the old gen- 
tleman aside, and told him who he was, and why he 
was thus disguised. The justice only interrupted him 
with the occasional inquiry, ' Most done ? ' When he 
had finished, the magistrate told him that his story was 
very well made, and told in a manner very creditable to 
his address ; and that he should give it all the weight 
it seemed to require. And Lee's remonstrances were 
unavailing. 

" As soon as they were fairly lodged in the prison, 
Lee prevailed on the jailer to carry a note to Gen. 
Lincoln, informing him of his condition. The General 
received it as he was dressing in the morning, and 
immediately sent one of his aides to the jail. 

"That officer could not believe his eyes that he 
saw Capt. Lee. His uniform, worn out when he 
assumed it, was now hanging in rags about him ; and 
he had not been shaved for a fortnight. He wished, 
very naturally, to improve his appearance before pre- 
senting himself before the secretary of war; but the 
orders were peremptory to bring him as he was. 
The General loved a joke full well : his laughter was 



204 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

hardly exceeded by the report of his own cannon ; 
and long and loud did he laugh that day. 

"When Capt. Lee returned to Lancaster, he imme- 
diately attempted to retrace the ground ; and so 
accurate, under all the unfavorable circumstances, had 
been his investigation, that he brought to justice 
fifteen persons who had aided the escape of British 
prisoners. It is hardly necessary to say, to you who 
know the fate of Revolutionary officers, that he 
received, for his hazardous and effectual service — no 
reward whatever." 



GEN. DANIEL MORGAN 

" Speaking of brave men," observed Colson, "I 
suppose there is not one of the company who will 
doubt the bravery of Gen. Morgan, the hero of so 
many fields." 

"The man who does doubt it knows not what 
courage is," remarked Ransom. 

"Well, I will tell you something about his bravery," 
said Colson. "Men have different ideas of that par- 
ticular thing. 

"This 'thunderbolt of war/ this 'brave Morgan, 
who never knew fear,' was, in camp, often wicked and 
very profane, but never a disbeliever in religion. He 
testified that himself. 

" In his latter years, Gen. Morgan professed religion, 
and united himself with the Presbyterian Church in 
Winchester, Va., under the pastoral care of the Rev. 
Dr. Hill, who preached in that house some forty years, 
and may now be occasionally heard on Loudon Street, 
Winchester. 

205 



206 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" His last days were passed in that town ; and while 
sinking to the grave, he related to his minister the 
experience of his soul. 'People thought/ said he, 
* that Daniel Morgan never prayed ; people said old 
Morgan never was afraid. People did not know.' 

" He then proceeded to relate in his blunt manner, 
among many other things, that the night they stormed 
Quebec, while waiting in the darkness and storm, 
with his men paraded, for the word 'to advance,' he 
felt unhappy. The enterprise appeared more than 
perilous ; it seemed to him that nothing less than a 
miracle could bring them off safe from an encounter 
at such an amazing disadvantage. 

" He stepped aside, and kneeled by the side of a 
cannon, and then most fervently prayed that the Lord 
God Almighty would be his shield and defence, for 
nothing less than an almighty arm could protect him. 
He continued on his knees till the word passed along 
the line. t He fully believed that his safety during 
that night of peril was from the interposition of 
God. 

" Again, he said, about the battle of the Cowpens, 
which covered him with so much glory as a leader and 
a soldier, he had felt afraid to fight Tarleton with 
his numerous army flushed with success, and that -he 



o 

w 
> 



o 

o 
> 
2 




GEN. DANIEL MORGAN 207 

retreated as long as he could, till his men complained 
and he could go no farther. 

"Drawing up his army in three lines, on the hill- 
side, contemplating the scene, — in the distance the 
glitter of the advancing enemy, — he trembled for the 
fate of the day. Going to the woods in the rear, he 
kneeled in an old tree-top, and poured out a prayer to 
God for his army, and for himself, and for his country. 

" With relieved spirits he returned to the lines, 
and in his rough manner cheered them for the fight.; 
as he passed along, they answered him bravely. The 
terrible carnage that followed the deadly aim of his 
lines decided the victory. In a few moments Tarleton 
fled. 

"'Ah!' said he, 'people said old Morgan never 
feared ; they thought Morgan never prayed. They did 
not know; old Morgan was often miserably afraid.' 
And if he had not been, in the circumstances of 
amazing responsibility in which he was placed, how 
could he have been brave?" 

" We seldom hear of a man admitting that he was 
ever afraid," observed Hand. "But the man who 
never knew fear must be possessed of a small degree 
of intelligence, and no sense of responsibility ; neither 
of which is creditable. 



208 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" Great generals and soldiers, in all ages, have 
boasted of their freedom from dread under all circum- 
stances. But it is a mere boast. Fear is natural and 
useful, and I have ever observed that the man of most 
fear is the man of most prudence and forecast. " 

" Do you mean to say that the coward is the wisest 
man ? " inquired Kinnison, in astonishment. 

" Oh, no ! A coward is one who will not grapple 
with danger when he meets it, but shrinks and flies. 
A man who is conscious of dangers to be met, and 
feels a distrust of his own power to meet them, is a 
different sort of person," replied Hand. 

"Well, that's a very nice distinction," remarked one 
of the young men. 

"There's truth in what he says, however," said 
Ransom. " I have felt fear of consequences many a 
time : yet I know that I am not a coward, for my 
conduct in the time of battle, and when death was 
hailing around me, proves it." 

" I can't see any distinction between a coward and 
a man of many fears," remarked Davenport ; "though, 
of course, I don't know enough of words to argue the 
point." 

"To make it clearer," replied Hand, "I will assert 
that Washington was a man fearful of consequences ; 



GEN. DANIEL MORGAN 209 

and some of those who refused to go to the aid of the 
heroes of Bunker Hill were cowards.'' 

"It's all plain enough to me," observed Colson. 
But the rest of the company, by shakes of the head 
and meditative looks, indicated that the distinction 
was not perceptible to their mental vision. 



THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY 

"Well now, my friends, I can tell you of a brave 
man who was not fearful enough to be prudent," ob- 
served Colson. " I allude to Gen. Herkimer. No man 
can dispute his courage ; and it is clear that if he had 
possessed more fear of Indian wiles, he would not have 
fallen into an ambuscade." 

" Will you tell us about the battle in which he fell ? " 
inquired Hand. 

"I was about to do so," replied Colson. "Brig.-Gen. 
Herkimer was the commander of the militia of Tryon 
County, N.Y., when news was received that St. Leger, 
with about two thousand men, had invested Fort 
Schuyler. 

" The general immediately issued a proclamation, 
calling out all the able-bodied men in the county, and 
appointed a place for their rendezvous, and a time for 
them to be ready for marching to the relief of Fort 
Schuyler. 

" Learning that Gen. Herkimer was approaching to 
the relief of the garrison, and not being disposed to 
receive him in his camp, St. Leger detached a body of 



THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY 211 

Indians and Tories, under Brant and Col. Butler, to 
watch his approach, and to . intercept, if possible, his 
march. 

" The surrounding country afforded every facility for 
the practice of the Indian mode of warfare. In the 
deep recesses of its forests they were secure from ob- 
servation, and to them they could retreat in case they 
were defeated. 

" Finding that the militia approached in a very 
careless manner, Butler determined to attack them by 
surprise. He selected a place well fitted for such an 
attack. A few miles from the fort there was a deep 
ravine sweeping toward the east in a semicircular form, 
and having a northern-and-southern direction. 

"The bottom of this ravine was marshy, and the 
road along which the militia were marching crossed it 
by means of a log causeway. The ground thus partly 
enclosed by the ravine was elevated and level. Along 
the road, on each side of this height of land, Butler 
disposed his men. 

"About ten o'clock on the morning of the 6th of 
August, 1777, the Tryon County militia arrived at this 
place without any suspicions of danger. The dark 
foliage of the forest-trees, with a thick growth of under- 
brush, entirely concealed the enemy from their view. 



212 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

"The advanced guard, with about two-thirds of the 
whole force, had gained the elevated ground, the 
baggage- wagons had descended into the ravine ; Col. 
Fisher's regiment was still on the east side, — when 
the Indians arose, and with a dreadful yell poured a 
destructive fire upon them. The advanced guard was 
entirely cut off. 

"Those who survived the first fire were immediately 
cut down with the tomahawk. The horror of the scene 
was increased by the personal appearance of the sav- 
ages, who were almost naked, and painted in a most 
hideous manner. 

"They ran down each side, keeping up a constant 
fire, and united at the causeway ; thus dividing the 
militia into two bodies. The rear regiment, after a 
feeble resistance, fled in confusion, and were pursued 
by the Indians. They suffered more severely than 
they would have done had they stood their ground, or 
advanced to the support of the main body in front. 

"The latter course would have been attended with 
great loss, but might probably have been effected. 
The forward division had no alternative but to fight. 
Facing out in every direction, they sought shelter 
behind the trees, and returned the fire of the enemy 
with spirit. 



THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY 213 

" In the beginning of the battle, the Indians, when- 
ever they saw that a gun was fired from behind a tree, 
rushed up and tomahawked the person thus firing 
before he had time to reload his gun. 

" To counteract this, two men were ordered to station 
themselves behind one tree, the one reserving his fire 
until the Indian ran up. In this way the Indians were 
made to suffer severely in return. The fighting had 
continued for some time, and the Indians had begun to 
give way, when Major Watson, a brother-in-law of Sir 
John Johnson, brought up a re-enforcement, consisting 
of a detachment of Johnson's "Greens. 

"The blood of the Germans boiled with indignation 
at the sight of these men. Many of the Greens were 
personally known to them. They had fled their country, 
and were now returned in arms to subdue it. 

" Their presence under any circumstances would have 
kindled up the resentment of these militia ; but coming 
up as they now did, in aid of a retreating foe, called 
into exercise the most bitter feelings of hostility. They 
fired upon them as they advanced, and then, rushing 
from behind their covers, attacked them with their 
bayonets, and those who had none, with the but-end 
of their muskets. 

"This contest was maintained, hand to hand, for 



214 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

nearly half an hour. The Greens made a manful 
resistance, but were finally obliged to give way before 
the dreadful fury of their assailants, with the loss of 
thirty killed upon the spot where they first entered. 
Major Watson was wounded and taken prisoner, though 
afterwards left upon the field. 

" In this assault Col. Cox is said to have been killed. 
Possessing an athletic frame, with a daring spirit, he 
mingled in the thickest of the fight. His voice could 
be distinctly heard, as he cheered on his men or issued 
his orders, amid the clashing of arms and the yells of 
the contending savages. 

"About one o'clock, Adam Helmer, who had been 
sent by Gen. Herkimer with a letter to Col. Gansevoort, 
announcing his approach, arrived at the fort. At two 
o'clock Lieut.-Col. Willet, with two hundred and seven 
men, sallied from the fort for the purpose of making a 
diversion in favor of Gen. Herkimer, and attacked the 
camp of the enemy. 

"This engagement lasted about an hour, when the 
enemy were driven off with considerable loss. Col. 
Willet having thrown out flanking-parties, and ascer- 
tained that the retreat was not feigned, ordered his men 
to take as much of the spoil as they could remove, and 
to destroy the remainder. 



THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY 215 

"On their return to the fort, above the landing, and 
near where the old French fort stood, a party of two 
hundred regular troops appeared, and prepared to give 
battle. A smart fire of musketry, aided by the cannon 
from the fort, soon obliged them to retreat, when Willet 
returned into the fort with his spoil, and without the 
loss of a single man. A part of that spoil was placed 
upon the, walls of the fortress, where it waved in 
triumph in sight of the vanquished enemy. 

" This timely and well-conducted sally was attended 
with complete success. A shower of rain had already 
caused the enemy to slacken their fire, when, finding by 
reports that their camp was attacked and taken, they 
withdrew, and left the militia in possession of the field. 

"The Americans lost in killed nearly two hundred, 
and about as many wounded and prisoners ; they carried 
off between forty and fifty of their wounded. They 
encamped the first night upon the ground where old 
Fort Schuyler was built. 

"Among the wounded was Gen. Herkimer. Early 
in the action his leg was fractured by a musket-ball. 
The leg was amputated a few days after ; but in conse- 
quence of the unfavorable state of the weather, and 
want of skill in his surgeons, mortification ensued, 
and occasioned his death. 



216 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

" On receiving his wound, his horse having been 
killed, he directed his saddle to be placed upon a little 
hillock of earth, and rested himself upon it. Being 
advised to choose a place where he would be less 
exposed, he replied, 'I will face the enemy.' Sur- 
rounded by a few men, he continued to issue his orders 
with firmness. 

"In this situation, and in the heat of the battle, he 
very deliberately took from his pocket his tinder-box, 
and lit his pipe, which he smoked with great composure. 
He was certainly to blame for not using greater caution 
on his march ; but the coolness and intrepidity which 
he exhibited when he found himself ambuscaded aided 
materially in restoring order, and in inspiring his men 
with courage. 

" His loss was deeply lamented by his friends and by 
the inhabitants of Tryon County. The Continental 
Congress, in October following, directed that a monu- 
ment should be erected to his memory, of the value 
of five hundred dollars. But no monument was ever 
erected." 

"'I will face the enemy,'" said Kinnison, repeating 
the words of the brave Herkimer. 

" Heroic words. But the General should have pos- 
sessed more prudence. He had lived long enough in 



THE BATTLE OF ORISKANY 217 

the neighborhood of the Indians to know their mode of 
warfare, and he should have sent out rangers to recon- 
noitre his route," remarked Colson. 

" However," observed Kinnison, "the enemy didn't 
get off whole-skinned. I have heard that they had 
more than two hundred killed. It was a hard-fought 
battle; and considering all circumstances, no men could 
have behaved better than our militia did. 

" You see, young men, after they recovered from the 
confusion of the first attack, they found they had no 
ammunition save what they had in their cartouch-boxes. 
Their baggage-wagons were in possession of the enemy, 
and they could get no water, which was in great demand 
in such warm weather. To fight five or six hours under 
such circumstances was certainly noble conduct." 

"Another point is to be taken into consideration. 
The enemy were much superior in numbers," said 
Colson. 

"Of course; that's very important," replied Ranson. 

" I suppose there was little mercy shown by either 
party. There was too much hateful fury," said Hand. 

"You're right," remarked Colson. "Few Tories 
received quarters from the militia, and fewer of the 
militia asked it of the Tories." 

" Herkimer should have been more cautious. Though 



218 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

a brave soldier, we cannot consider him a good com- 
mander," said Pitts. 

" Nay, I think he was a good commander, friend 
Pitts," replied Hanson. " He was cool-headed and 
skilful in the hottest battle ; and because he neglected 
sending out scouts on one occasion, you should not 
conclude that imprudence was part of his character." 

" But a commander acquainted with Indian warfare, 
as Herkimer was, must be considered imprudent if he 
neglects such a common precaution as sending out 
scouts," observed Kinnison. 



CONCLUSION 

"Well, we won't argue the matter now. It's get- 
ting late, and we had better break our company," said 
Warner. 

"But first we will have a song," replied Hand. 
" Heaven knows if we may ever meet again ; and your 
company has been too amusing and instructive for us 
to part suddenly. 

" Gentlemen, this is the Fourth of July ; and surely 
it becomes us, as Americans, to honor the memory of 
the men who on this day pledged their lives, their 
fortunes, and their sacred honors, for the support of our 
independence. 

" I therefore propose, ' The memory of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence. May the brightness 
of their fame endure as long as patriotism and the 
love of freedom burn in the breasts of mankind ! ' " 

Hand now proposed that they should have a song, 

and remarked that he knew one appropriate to the 

occasion, which he would sing, if the old soldiers were 

219 



220 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

not too weary to listen. Of course they expressed it 
to be their pleasure that he should sing it, and he 
proceeded. " The song," said he, "is called 'The 
Last Revolutionary.' " The words were as follows : — 

" Oh ! where are they — those iron men, 
Who braved the battle's storm of fire, 
When war's wild halo filled the glen, 

And lit each humble village spire, 
When hill sent back the sound to hill, 
When might was right, and law was will ? 

Oh ! where are they whose manly breasts 
Beat back the pride of England's might, 

Whose stalwart arm laid low the crests 
Of many an old and valiant knight, 

When evening came with murderous flame, 

And liberty was but a name ? 

I see them, in the distance, form 

Like spectres on a misty shore ; 
Before them rolls the dreadful storm, 

And hills send forth their rills of gore; 
Around them death with lightning breath 
Is twining an immortal wreath. 

They conquer ! God of glory, thanks ! 

They conquer ! Freedom's banner waves 
Above Oppression's broken ranks, 

And withers o'er her children's graves ; 



CONCLUSION 221 

And loud and long the pealing song 
Of jubilee is borne along. 

Tis evening, and December's sun 
Goes swiftly down behind the wave; 

And there I see a gray-haired one, 
A special courier to the grave; 

He looks around on vale and mound, 

Then falls upon his battle-ground. 

Beneath him rests the hallowed earth ; 

Now changed like him, and still and cold, 
The blood that gave young freedom birth 

No longer warms the warrior old; 
He waves his hand with stern command, 
Then dies, the last of Glory's band." 

"A very good song, but a very mournful subject/' 
observed Kinnison. "And now, friends, we must part." 

"The carriages are at the door," said one of the 
young men, as the party arose and prepared to descend. 
The kindest and best wishes were exchanged between 
the old and young men ; and over and over again were 
promises made to meet the next year if possible. 

At length the veterans were assisted to descend 
the stairs. When they reached the door, they found a 
crowd collected round it. The sound of the fife and 



222 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY 

drum had drawn these people there ; and, hearing that 
the survivors of the Tea-Party were in the house, they 
were very anxious to see them. 

As soon as the old men appeared, they jostled 
around them, and it was with much difficulty that 
they were safely placed in the carriages by their young 
friends. Hand and his comrades at last bade the 
veterans an affectionate farewell, and the carriages 
drove away amid cheers given by the crowd for " The 
Boston Tea-Party." 



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